■ 


MY  FIRST  AND  WORST  WIFE 


frVt*&  v  t.  PS  . 


^ 


SEVEIST  WIVES 


SEVEN  PRISONS: 


OR 


EXPERIENCES  Df  THE  LIFE 


MATRIMONIAL  MONOMANIAC. 


A  TRUE  STORY, 


WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF. 


NEW    YORK: 

PUBLISHED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR. 

1870. 


V& 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 
L.  A.  ABBOTT, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for 
the  District  of  Connecticut. 


WILLIAM    n.    LOCKWOOD, 
Electrotyper, 

BARTrOBD,    CONH. 


COI^TE^TS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FIRST  AND  WORST  WIFE. 

My  Early  History.  The  First  Marriage.  Leaving  Home 
to  Prospect.  Sending  for  My  Wife.  Her  Mysterious 
Journey.  Where  I  Found  Her.  Ten  Dollars  for 
Nothing.  A  Fascinating  Hotel  Clerk.  My  Wife's 
Confession-  From  Bad  to  Worse.  Final  Separation. 
Trial  for  Forgery.  A  Private  Marriage.  Summary 
Sepaiation,  I        «         .         .         11 


CHAPTER  II. 

MISERIES  FROM    MY  SECOND  MARRIAGE. 

Love-Making  in  Massachusetts.  Arrest  for  Bigamy.  Trial 
at  Northampton.  A  Stunning  Sentence.  Sent  to  State 
Prison.  Learning  the  Brush  Business.  Sharpening 
Picks.  Prison  Fare.  In  the  Hospital.  Kind  Treat- 
ment. Successful  Horse-Shoeing.  The  Warden  my 
Friend.     Efforts  for  my  Release,     A  Full  Pardon.     21 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  SCHKIMER  SENSATION. 

The  Scheimer  Family.  In  Love  with  Sarah.  Attempt  to 
Elope.  How  it  was  Prevented.  Second  Attempt.  A 
Midnight  Expedition.  The  Alarm.  A  Frightful  Beat- 
ing Escape.  Floggirg  the  Devil  out  of  Sarah.  Return 
to  New  Jersey.  "  Boston  Yankee."  Plans  to  Secure 
Sarah, 33 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SUCCESS  WITH  SARAH. 

Mary  Smith  as  a  Confederate.  The  Plot.  Waiting  in  the 
Woods.  The  Spy  Outwitted.  Sarah  Secured.  The 
Pursuers  Baffled.  Night  on  the  Road.  Efforts  to  Get 
Married.  "  The  Old  Offender."  Married  at  Last.  A 
Constable  after  Sarah.  He  Gives  it  Up.  An  Ale  Orgie. 
Return  to  "  Boston  Yankee's."     A  Home  in  Goshen,     48 


CHAPTER  V. 

HOW  THE  SCHEIMERS  MADE  ME  SUFFER. 

Return  to  Scheimer's.  Peace,  and  then  Pandemonium. 
Frightful  Family  Row.  Running  for  Refuge.  The 
Gang  Again.  Arrest  at  Midnight.  Struggle  with  my 
Captors.  In  Jail  Once  More.  Put  in  Irons.  A  Hor- 
rible Prison.  Breaking  Out.  The  Dungeon.  Sarah's 
Baby.  Curious  Compromises.  Old  Scheimer  my  Jailer. 
Signing  a  Bond.  Free  Again.  Last  Words  from 
Sarah, .    .         .         59 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FREE   LIFE   AND   FISHING. 

Taking  Care  of  Crazy  Men.  Carrying  off  a  Boy.  Ar- 
rested for  Stealing  my  Own  Horse  and  Buggy.  Fishing 
in  Lake  Winnepisiogee.  An  Odd  Landlord.  A  Woman 
as  Big  as  a  Hogshead.  Reducing  the  Hogshead  to  a 
Barrel.  Wonderful  Verification  of  a  Dream.  Success- 
ful Medical  Practice.  A  Busy  Winter  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. Blandishments  of  Captain  Brown.  I  go  to 
Newark,  New  Jersey, 72 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WEDDING  A  WIDOW  AND  THE   CONSEQUENCES. 

I  Marry  a  Widow.  Six  Weeks  of  Happiness.  Confiding 
a  Secret,  and  the  Consequences.  The  Widow's  Brother. 
Sudden  Flight  from  Newark.  In  Hartford,  Conn.  My 
Wife's  Sister  Betrays  Me.  Trial  for  Bigamy.  Sen- 
tenced to  Ten  Years'  Imprisonment.  I  Become  a 
"  Bobbin  Boy."  A  Good  Friend.  Governor  Price 
Visits  Me  in  Prison.  He  Pardons  Me.  Ten  Years' 
Sentence  Fulfilled  in  Seven  Months,  ...         83 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ON     THE     KEEN     SCENT. 

Good  Resolutions.  Enjoying  Freedom.  Going  After  a 
Crazy  Man.  The  Old  Tempter  in  a  New  Form.  Mary 
Gordon.  My  New  u  Cousin."  Engaged  Again.  Visit 
to  the  Old  Folks  at  Home.  Another  Marriage.  Start- 
ing for  Ohio.  Change  oi  Plan3.  Domestic  Quarrels. 
Unpleasant  Stories  about  Mary.  Bound  Over  to  Keep 
the  Peace.  Another  Arrest  for  Bigamy.  A  Sudden 
Flight.  Secreted  Three  Weeks  in  a  Farm  House.  Re- 
captured at  Concord.  Escaped  Once  More.  Traveling 
on  the  Underground  Railroad.     In  Canada,         .         96 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MARRYING     TWO     MILLINERS. 

Back  in  Vermont.  Fresh  Temptations.  Margaret  Brad- 
ley. Wine  and  Women.  A  Mock  Marriage  in  Troy. 
The  False  Certificate.     Medicine  and  Millinery.     Eliza 


Gurnsey.  A  Spree  at  Saratoga.  Marrying  Another 
JNIilliner.  Again  Arrested  for  Bigamy.  In  Jail  Eleven 
Months.  A  Tedious  Trial.  Found  Guilty.  Appeal  to 
Supreme  Court.  Trying  to  Break  Out  of  Jail.  A  Gov- 
ernor's Promise.  Second  Trial.  Sentenced  to  Three 
Years'  Imprisonment,        .....         100 


CHAPTER   X. 

PRISON    LIFE    IN    VERMONT. 

Entering  Prison.  The  Scythe  Snath  Business.  Blistered 
Hands.  I  Learn  Nothing.  Threaten  to  Kill  the  Shop 
Keeper.  Locksmithing.  Open  Rebellion.  Six  Weeks 
in  the  Dungeon.  Escape  of  a  Prisoner.  In  the  Dungeon 
Again.  The  Mad  Man  Hall.  He  Attempts  to  Murder 
the  Deputy.  I  Save  Morey's  Life.  Howling  in  the 
Black  Hole.  Taking  Off  Hall's  Irons.  A  Ghastly 
Spectacle.  A  Prison  Funeral.  I  am  Let  Alone.  The 
Full  Term  of  my  Imprisonment,        .         .         .         121 

CHAPTER  XL 

ON  TIIE  TRAMP. 

The  Day  of  my  Deliverance.  Out  of  Clothes.  Sharing 
with  a  Beggar.  A  Good  Friend.  Tramping  Through 
the  Snow.  Weary  Walks.  Trusting  to  Luck.  Com- 
fort at  Concord.  At  Meredith  Bridge.  The  Blaisdells. 
Last  of  the  "  Blossom"  Business.  Making  Money  at 
Portsmouth.  Revisiting  Windsor.  An  Astonished  War- 
den. Making  Friends  of  Enemies.  Inspecting  the 
Prison.     Going  to  Port  Jervis,  .         .         .         137 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ATTEMPT  TO  KIDNAP  SARAH  SCHEIMER's  BOY. 

Starting  to  See  Sarah.  The  Long  Separation.  What  I 
Learned  About  Her.  Her  Drunken  Husband.  Change 
of  Plan.  A  Suddenly-Formed  Scheme.  I  Find  Sarah's 
Son.  The  First  Interview.  Resolve  to  Kidnap  the  Boy. 
Remonstrance  of  my  Son  Henry.  The  Attempt.  A 
Desperate  Struggle.  The  Rescue.  Arrest  of  Henry. 
My  Flight  into  Pennsylvania.  Sending  Assistance  to 
my  Son.  Return  to  Port  Jervis.  Bailing  Henry.  His 
Return  to  Belvidere.  He  is  Bound  Over  to  be  Tried 
for  Kidnapping.     My  folly,       .         .         .         .         148 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

ANOTHER      WIDOW. 

Waiting  for  the  Verdict.  My  Son  Sent  to  State  Prison. 
What  Sarah  Would  Have  Done.  Interview  with  my 
First  Wife.  Help  for  Henry.  The  Biddeford  Widow. 
Her  Effort  to  Marry  Me.  Our  Visit  to  Boston.  A 
Warning.  A  Generous  Gift.  Henry  Pardoned.  Close 
of  the  Scheimer  Account.  Visit  to  Ontario  County.  My 
Rich  Cousins.  What  Might  Have  Been.  My  Birth- 
place Revisited,       .        .        .        .        •        .         163 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

MY  SON  TRIES  TO  MURDER  ME. 

Settling  Down  in  Maine.  Henry's  Health.  Tour  Through 
the  South.  Secession  Times.  December  in  New  Or- 
leans.    Up  the  Mississippi.     Leaving  Henry  in  Massa- 


cbusetts.  Back  in  Maine  Again.  Return  to  Boston. 
Profitable  Horse-Trading.  Plenty  of  Money.  My 
First  Wife's  Children.  How  they  Have  Been  Brought 
Up.  A  Barefaced  Robbery.  Attempt  to  Blackmail  Me. 
My  Son  Tries  to  Rob  and  Kill  Me.  My  Rescue.  Last 
of  the  Young  Man, 174 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A  TRUE  WIFE  AND  HOME  AT  LAST. 

Where  Were  All  my  Wives  ?  Sense  of  Security.  An 
Imprudent  Acquaintance.  Moving  from  Maine.  My 
Property  in  Rensselaer  County.  How  I  Lived.  Selling 
a  Recipe.  About  Buying  a  Carpet.  Nineteen  Lawsuits. 
Sudden  Departure  for  the  West.  A  Vagabond  Life  for 
Two  Years.  Life  in  California.  Return  to  the  East. 
Divorce  from  my  First  WTife.  A  Genuine  Marriage. 
My  Farm.     Home  at  Last,  .  .         189 


SEVEN   WIVES 


AND 


SEVEN"    PRISONS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE   FIRST   AND   WORST  WIFE. 

MY  EARLY  HISTORY — THE  FIRST  MARRIAGE — LEAVING  HOME  TO 
PROSPECT SENDING  FOR  MY  WIFE HER  MYSTERIOUS  JOUR- 
NEY— WHERE     I     FOUND     HER TEN    DOLLARS    FOR    NOTHING A 

FASCINATING      HOTEL     CLERK — MY    WIFE'S      CONFESSION — FROM 

BAD    TO    WORSE FINAL    SEPARATION TRIAL    FOR    FORGERY — A 

PRIVATE    MARRIAGE SUMMARY    SEPARATION. 

Some  one  lias  said  that  if  any  man  would  faithfully 
write  his  autobiography,  giving  truly  his  own  history 
and  experiences,  the  ills  and  joys,  the  haps  and  mis- 
haps that  had  fallen  to  his  lot,  he  could  not  fail  to 
make  an  interesting  story ;  and  Disraeli  makes  Si- 
donia  say  that  there  is  romance  in  every  life.  How 
much  romance,  as  well  as  sad  reality,  there  is  in  the 
life  of  a  man  who,  among  other  experiences,  has 
married  seven  wives,  and  has  been  seven  times  in 


12  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

prison— solely  on  account  of  the  seven  wives,  may- 
be learned  from  the  pages  that  follow. 

I  was  born  in  the  town  of  Chatham,  Columbia 
County,  New  York,  in  September,  1813.  My  father 
was  a  New  Englander,  who  married  three  times,  and 
I  was  the  eldest  son  of  his  third  wife,  a  woman  of 
Dutch  descent,  or,  as  she  would  have  boasted  if  she 
had  been  rich,  one  of  the  old  Knickerbockers  of  New 
York.  My  parents  were  simply  honest,  hard-work- 
ing, worthy  people,  who  earned  a  good  livelihood, 
brought  up  their  children  to  work,  behaved  them- 
selves, and  were  respected  by  their  neighbors.  They 
had  a  homestead  and  a  small  farm  of  thirty  acres, 
and  on  the  place  was  a  blacksmith  shop  in  which  my 
father  worked  daily,  shoeing  horses  and  cattle  for 
farmers  and  others  who  came  to  the  shop  from  miles 
around. 

There  were  three  young  boys  of  us  at  home,  and 
we  had  a  chance  to  go  to  school  in  the  winter,  while 
daring  the  summer  we  worked  on  the  little  farm  and 
did  the  "  chores "  about  the  house  and  barn.  But 
by  the  time  I  was  twelve  years  old  I  began  to  blow 
and  strike  in  the  blacksmith  shop,  and  when  1  was 
sixteen  years  old  I  could  shoe  horses  well,  and  con- 
sidered myself  master  of  the  trade.     At  the  age  of 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  13 

eighteen,  I  went  into  business  with  my  father,  and 
as  I  was  now  entitled  to  a  share  of  the  profits,  I 
married  the  daughter  of  a  well-to-do  neighboring 
farmer,  and  we  began  our  new  life  in  part  of  my 
father's  house,  setting  up  for  ourselves,  and  doing  our 
own  house-keeping. 

I  ought  to  have  known  then  that  marrying  thus 
early  in  life,  and  especially  marrying  the  woman  I 
did,  was  about  the  most  foolish  thing  I  could  do.  I 
found  it  out  afterwards,  and  was  frequently  and 
painfully  reminded  of  it  through  many  long  years. 
But  all  seemed  bright  enough  at  the  start.  My  wife 
was  a  good-looking  woman  of  just  my  own  age  ;  her 
family  was  most  respectable ;  two  of  her  brothers 
subsequently  became  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  and 
all  the  children  had  been  carefully  brought  up.  I 
was  thought  to  have  made  a  good  match ;  but  a  few 
years  developed  that  I  had  wedded  a  most  unworthy 
woman. 

Seventeen  months  after  our  marriage,  our  oldest 
child,  Henry,  was  born.  Meanwhile  we  had  gone 
to  Sidney,  Delaware  County,  where  my  father  opened 
a  shop.  I  still  continued  in  business  with  him,  and 
during  our  stay  at  Sidney,  my  daughter,  Elizabeth) 
was  born.     From  Sidney,  my  father  wanted  to  go 


14  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

to  Bainbridge,  Chenango  County,  N.  Y.,  and  I  went 
with  him,  leaving  my  wife  and  the  children  at  Sid- 
ney, while  we  prospected.  As  usual  my  father 
started  a  blacksmith-shop ;  but  I  bought  a  hundred 
acres  of  timber  land,  went  to  lumbering,  and  made 
money.  We  had  a  house  about  four  miles  from  the 
village,  I  living  with  my  father,  and  as  soon  as  I 
found  out  that  we  were  doing  well  in  business,  I 
sent  to  Sidney  for  my  wife  and  children.  They 
were  to  come  by  stage,  and  were  due,  after  passing 
through  Bainbridge,  at  our  house  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  We  were  up  early  to  meet  the  stage ; 
but  when  it  arrived,  the  driver  told  us  that  my  wife 
had  stopped  at  the  public  house  in  Bainbridge. 

Wondering  what  this  could  mean,  I  at  once  set 
out  with  my  brother  and  walked  over  to  the  vil- 
lage. It  was  daylight  when  we  arrived,  and  knocked 
loudly  at  the  public  house  door.  After  considerable 
delay,  the  clerk  came  to  the  door  and  let  us  in.  He 
also  asked  us  to  "take  something,"  which  we  did. 
The  clerk  knew  us  well,  and  I  inquired  if  my  wife 
was  in  the  house ;  he  said  she  was,  told  us  what 
room  she  was  in,  and  we  went  up  stairs  and  found 
her  in  bed  with  her  children.  Waking  her,  I  asked 
her  why  she  did  not  come  home  in  the  stage  ?     She 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  15 

replied  that  the  clerk  down  stairs  told  her  that  the 
stage  did  not  go  beyond  the  house,  and  that  she  ex- 
pected to  walk  over,  as  soon  as  it  was  daylight,  or 
that  possibly  we  might  come  for  her. 

I  declare,  I  was  so  young  and  unsophisticated  that 
I  suspected  nothing,  and  blamed  only  the  stupidity, 
as  I  supposed,  of  the  clerk  in  telling  her  that  the 
stage  did  not  go  beyond  Bainbridge.  My  wife  got 
up  and  dressed  herself  and  the  children,  and  then 
as  it  was  broad  daylight,  after  endeavoring,  ineffect- 
ually, to  get  a  conveyance,  we  started  for  home  on 
foot,  she  leading  the  little  boy,  and  I  carrying  the 
youngest  child.  We  were  not  far  on  our  way  when 
she  suddenly  stopped,  stooped  down,  and  exclaimed : 
"  0 !  see  what  I  have  found  in  the  road  " — 
And  she  showed  me  a  ten  dollar  bill.  1  was  quite 
surprised,  and  verdantly  enough,  advised  looking 
around  for  more  money,  which  my  wife,  brother  and 
I  industriously  did  for  some  minutes.  It  was  full 
four  weeks  before  I  found  out  where  that  ten  dollar 
bill  came  from.  Meanwhile,  my  wife  was  received 
and  was  living  in  her  new  home,  being  treated  with 
great  kindness  by  all  of  us.  It  was  evident,  how- 
ever, that  she  had  something  on  her  mind  which 
troubled  her,  and  one  morning,  about  a  month  after 


16  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

her  arrival,  I  found  her  in  tears.  I  asked  her  what 
was  the  matter  ?  She  said  that  she  had  been  de- 
ceiving me  ;  that  she  did  not  pick  up  the  ten  dollar 
bill  in  the  road ;  but  that  it  was  given  to  her  by  the 
clerk  in  the  public  house  in  Bainbridge  ;  only,  how- 
ever, for  this  :  he  had  grossly  insulted  her  ;  she  had 
resented  it,  and  he  had  given  her  the  money,  partly 
as  a  reparation,  and  partly  to  prevent  her  from  speak- 
ing of  the  insult  to  me  or  to  others. 

But  by  this  time  my  hitherto  blinded  eyes  were 
opened,  and  I  charged  her  with  being  false  to  me. 
She  protested  she  had  not  been ;  but  finally  confessed 
that  she  had  been  too  intimate  with  the  clerk 
at  the  hotel.  I  began  a  suit  at  law  against  the 
clerk ;  but  finally,  on  account  of  my  wife's  family 
and  for  the  sake  of  my  children,  I  stopped  proceed- 
ings, the  clerk  paying  the  costs  of  the  suit  as  far  as 
it  had  gone,  and  giving  me  what  I  should  probably 
have  got  from  him  in  the  way  of  damages.  My  wife 
too,  was  apparently  so  penitent,  and  1  was  so  much 
infatuated  with  her,  that  I  forgave  her,  and  even 
consented  to  continue  to  live  with  her.  But  I  re- 
moved to  Greenville,  Greene  County,  N.  Y.,  where  I 
went  into  the  black-smithing  business,  and  was  very 
successful.     We  lived  here  long  enough  to  add  two 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  17 

children  to  our  little  family  ;  but  as  time  went  on, 
the  woman  became  bad  again,  and  displayed  the 
worst  depravity.  I  could  no  longer  live  with  her, 
and  we  finally  mutually  agreed  upon  a  life-long  sep- 
aration— she  insisting  upon  keeping  the  children, 
and  going  to  Rochester  where  she  subsequently  de- 
veloped the  full  extent  of  her  character. 

This,  as  nearly  as  I  remember,  was  in  the  year 
1838,  and  with  this  came  a  new  trouble  upon  me. 
Just  before  the  separation,  I  received  from  my 
brother's  wife  a  note  for  one  hundred  dollars,  and 
sold  it.  It  proved  to  be  a  forgery.  I  was  tempo- 
rarily in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  when  the  discovery  was  made, 
and  as  I  made  no  secret  of  my  whereabouts  at  any 
time,  I  was  followed  to  Troy,  was  there  arrested,  and 
after  lying  in  jail  at  Albany  one  night,  was  taken 
next  morning  to  Coxsackie,  Greene  County,  and  from 
thence  to  Catskill.  After  one  day  in  jail  there,  I 
was  brought  before  a  justice  and  examined  on  the 
charge  of  uttering  a  forged  note.  There  was  a  most 
exciting  trial  of  four  days'  duration.  I  had  two 
good  lawyers  who  did  their  best  to  show  that  I  did 
not  know  the  note  to  be  forged  when  I  sold  it.  but 
the  justice  seemed  determined  to  bind  me  over  for 
trial,  and  he  did. so,  putting  me  under  five  hundred 


18  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

dollars'  bonds.  My  half-sister  at  Sidney  was  sent 
for,  came  to  Catskill,  and  became  bail  for  me.  I 
was  released,  and  my  lawyers  advised  me  to  leave, 
which  I  did  at  once,  and  went  to  Pittsiicld,  and 
from  there  to  Worthington,  Mass.,  where  I  had  an- 
other half-sister,  who  was  married  to  Mr.  Josiah 
Bartlett,  and  was  well  off. 

Here  I  settled  down,  for  all  that  I  knew  to  the 
contrary,  for  life.  For  some  years  past,  I  had  de- 
voted my  leisure  hours  from  the  forge  to  the  honest 
endeavor  to  make  up  for  the  deficiencies  in  my 
youthful  education,  and  had  acquired,  among  other 
things,  a  good  knowledge  of  medicine.  I  did  not 
however,  believe  in  any  of  the  "  schools,"  particu- 
larly* those  schools  that  make  use  of  mineral  medi- 
cines in  their  practice.  I  favored  purely  vegetable 
remedies,  and  had  been  very  successful  in  admin- 
istering them.  So  I  began  life  anew,  in  Worthing- 
ton, as  a  Doctor,  and  aided  by  my  half-sister  and  her 
friends,  I  soon  secured  a  remunerative  practice. 

I  was  beginning  to  be  truly  happy.  I  supposed 
that  the  final  separation,  mutually  agreed  upon  be- 
tween my  wife  and  myself,  was  as  effectual  as  all 
tho  courts  in  the  country  could  make  it,  and  I  looked 
upon  myself  as  a  free  man.     Accordingly,  after  I 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  .  19 

had  been  in  Worthington  some  months  I  began  to 
pay  attentions  to  -the  daughter  of  a  flourishing 
farmer.  She  was  a  fine  girl ;  she  received  my  ad- 
dresses favorably,  and  we  were  finally  privately  mar- 
ried. This  was  the  beginning  of  my  life-long  trou- 
bles. In  a  few  weeks  her  father  found  out  that  I  had 
been  previously  married,  and  was  not,  so  far  as  he 
knew,  either  a  divorced  man  or  a  widower.  And  so 
it  happened,  that  one  day  when  I  was  at  his  house, 
and  with  his  daughter,  he  suddenly  came  home  with 
a  posse  of  people  and  a  warrant  for  my  arrest.  I 
was  taken  before  a  justice,  and  while  we  were  wait- 
ing for  proceedings  to  begin,  or,  possibly  for  the 
justice  to  arrive,  I  took  the  excited  father  aside  and 
said: 

"  You  know.  I  have  a  fine  horse  and  buggy  at  the 
door.  Get  in  with  me,  and  ride  down  home.  I  will 
see  your  daughter  and  make  everything  right  with 
her,  and  if  you  will  let  me  run  away,  I'll  give  her 
the  horse  and  buggy." 

The  offer  was  too  tempting  to  be  refused.  The 
father  had  the  warrant  in  his  pocket,  and  he  accept- 
ed my  proposal.  "We  rode  to  his  house,  and  he  went 
into  the  back-room  by  direction  of  his  daughter 
while  she  and  I  talked  in  the  hall.     I  explained  mat- 


20  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

ters  as  well  as  I  could  ;  I  promised  to  see  her  again, 
and  that  very  soon.  My  horse-and  buggy  were  at 
the  door.  Hastily  bidding  my  new  and  young  wife 
"  good-bye,"  I  sprang  into  the  buggy  and  drove  rap- 
idly away.  The  father  rushed  to  the  door  and  raised 
a  great  hue  and  cry,  and  what  was  more,  raised  the 
neighbors  ;  I  had  not  driven  five  miles  before  all 
Worthington  was  after  me.  But  I  had  the  start,  the 
best  horse,  and  I  led  in  the  race.  I  drove  to  Han- 
cock, N.  Y.,  where  my  pursuers  lost  the  trail  ; 
thence  to  Bennington,  Vt.,  next  to  Brattleboro,  Vt., 
and  from  there  to  Templeton,  Mass.  What  befel 
me  at  Templeton,  shall  be  related  in  the  next 
chapter. 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  21 


CHAPTER    II. 

MISERIES    FROM   MY  SECOND    MARRIAGE. 

LOVE-MAKING    IN    MASSACHUSETTS — ARREST    FOR    BIGAMY — TRIAL. 
AT     NORTHAMPTON — A      STUNNING     SENTENCE — SENT      TO      STATE 

PRISON LEARNING  THE  BRUSH  BUSINESS — SHARPENING  PICKS 

PRISON  FARE^IN  THE  HOSPITAL— KIND  TREATMENT SUCCESS- 
FUL HORSE  SHOEING — THE  WARDEN  MY  FRIEND — EFFORTS  FOR 
MY    RELEASE A  FULL  PARDON. 

At  Templeton  I  speedily  made  known  my  profes- 
sion, and  soon  had  a  very  good  medical  practice  which 
one  or  two  "  remarkable  cures  "  materially  increased. 
I  was  doing  well  and  making  money.  I  boarded  in 
a  respectable  farmer's  family,  and  after  living  there 
about  six  months  there  came  another  most  unhappy 
occurrence.  From  the  day,  almost,  when  I  began 
to  board  with  this  farmer  there  sprung  up  a  strong 
attachment  between  myself  and  his  youngest  daugh- 
ter which  soon  ripened  into  mutual  love.  She  rode 
about  with  me  when  I  went  to  see  my  patients,  who 
were  getting  to  be  numerous,  and  we  were  much  in 
each  other's  company. 

On  one  occasion  she  accompanied  me  to  Worccs- 


22  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

ter  where  I  had  some  patients.  We  went  to  a  pub- 
lic house  where  she  and  her  family  were  well  known, 
and  when  she  was  asked  by  the  landlord  how  she 
happened  to  come  there  with  the  doctor,  her  prompt 
answer  was  : 

"  Why,  we  are  married  ;  did'nt  you  know  it  ?" 
She  refused  even  to  go  to  the  table  without  my 
attendance,  and  when  I  was  out  visiting  some  pa- 
tients, she  waited  for  her  meals  till  I  came  back. 
We  stayed  there  but  two  days  and  returned  together 
to  Templeton. 

A  month  afterward   her  brother  was  in  Worces- 
ter, and  stopped  at  this  house.     The  landlord,  after 
some  conversation  about  general  matters,  said  : 
"  So  your  sister  is  married  to  the  Doctor  ?" 
"  I  know  nothing  about  it,"  was  the  reply. 
This  led  to  a  full  and  altogether  too  free  disclos- 
ure to  the  astonished  brother  about  the  particulars 
of  our  visit  to  the  same  house  a  month  before,  and 
his  sister's  representations  that  we   were  married. 
The  brother  immediately  started  for  home,  and  re- 
peated the  story,  as  it  was  told  to  him,  to  his  father 
and  the  family.     Without  seeing  his  daughter,  the 
father  at  once  procured  a  warrant,  and  had  me  ar- 
rested and  brought  before  a  justice  on  charge  of  se- 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  23 

duction.  The  trial  was  brief ;  the  daughter  herself 
swore  positively,  that  though  she  had  been  impru- 
dent and  indiscreet  in  going  to  Worcester  with  me, 
no  improper  communication  had  ever,  there  or  else- 
where, taken  place  between  us. 

Of  course,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  let  me 
go  and  I  was  discharged.  But  out  of  this  affair 
came  the  worst  that  had  yet  fallen  to  my  lot  in  life. 
The  story  got  into  the  papers,  with  particulars  and 
names  of  the  parties,  and  in  this  way  the  people  at 
Worthington,  who  had  chased  me  as  far  as  Hancock 
and  had  there  lost  all  trace  of  me,  found  out  where 
I  was.  If  I  had  been  aware  of  it,  they  might  have 
looked  elsewhere  for  me  ;  but  while  I  was  felicita. 
ting  myself  upon  my  escape  from  the  latest  difficul- 
ty, down  came  an  officer  from  Worthington  with  a 
warrant  for  my  arrest.  This  officer,  the  sheriff,  was 
connected  with  the  family  into  which  I  had  married 
in  Worthington,  and  with  him  came  two  or  three 
more  relatives,  all  bound,  as  they  boasted,  to  "  put 
me  through."  They  were  excessively  irate  against 
me  and  very  much  angered,  especially  that  their 
race  after  me  to  Hancock  had  been  fruitless.  I  had 
fallen  into  the  worst  possible  hands. 

They  took  me  to  Northampton  and  brought  me 


24  SEVEN   "WIVES   AND 

before  a  Justice,  on  a  charge  of  bigamy:  The  sheriff 
who  arrested  me,  and  the  relatives  who  accompanied 
him  were  willing  to  swear  my  life  away,  if  they 
could,  and  the  justice  was  ready  enough  to  bind  me 
over  to  take  my  trial  in  court,  which  was  not  to  be 
in  session  for  full  six  months  to  come.  Those  long, 
weary  six  months  I  passed  in  the  county  jail.  Then 
came  my  trial.  I  had  good  counsel.  There  was  not 
a  particle  of  proof  that  I  was  guilty  of  bigamy  ;  no 
attempt  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution  to 
produce  my  first  wife,  from  whom  I  had  separated, 
or,  indeed,  to  show  that  there  was  such  a  woman  in 
existence.  But,  evidence  or  no  evidence,  with  all 
Worthington  against  me,  conviction  was  inevitable. 
The  jury  found  me  guilty.  The  judge  promptly  sen- 
tenced me  to  three  years'  imprisonment  in  the  State 
Prison,  at  Charlestown,  with  hard  labor,  the  first 
day  to  be  passed  in  solitary  confinement. 

This  severe  sentence  fairly  stunned  me.  I  was 
taken  back  to  jail,  and  the  following  day  I  was  con- 
veyed to  Charlestown  with  heavy  irons  on  my  ankles 
and  handcuffed.  No  murderer  would  have  been 
more  heavily ironed.  We  started  early  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  by  noon  I  was  duly  delivered  to  the  warden 
at  Charlestown  prison.     I  was  taken  into  the  office, 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  25 

measured,  asked  my  name,  age,  and  other  particulars, 
and  then  if  I  had  a  trade.  To  this  I  at  once  an- 
swered, "  no."  I  wanted  my  twenty-four  hours'  sol- 
itary confinement  in  which  to  reflect  upon  the  kind 
of  "  hard  labor,"  prescribed  in  my  sentence,  I  was 
willing  to  follow  for  the  next  three  years  ;  and  1 
also  wanted  information  about  the  branches  of  labor 
pursued  in  that  prison.  The  next  words  of  the 
warden  assured  me  that  he  was  a  kind  and  compas- 
sionate man. 

"  Go,"  he  said  to  an  officer,  "  and  instantly  take 
off  those  irons  when  you  take  him  inside  the  prison." 

I  was  taken  in  and  the  irons  were  taken  off.  I 
was  then  undressed,  my  clothes  were  removed  to 
another  room,  and  I  was  redressed  in  the  prison  uni- 
form. This  was  a  grotesque  uniform  indeed.  The 
suit  was  red  and  blue,  half  and  half,  like  a  harle- 
quin's, and  to  crown  all  came  a  hat  or  cap,  like  a 
fool's  cap,  a  foot  and  a  half  high  and  running  up  to 
a  peak.  Miserable  as  I  was,  I  could  scarcely  help 
smiling  at  the  utterly  absurd  appearance  I  knew  I 
then  presented.  I  even  ventured  to  remark  upon 
it ;  but  was  suddenly  and  sternly  checked  with  the 
command  : 

"  Silence  !     There's  no  talking  allowed  here." 
2 


26  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

Then  began  my  twenty-four  hours'  solitary  con- 
finement, and  twenty-four  wretched  .hours  they 
were.  I  had  only  bread  and  water  to  eat  and  drink, 
and  I  need  not  say  that  my  unhappy  thoughts  would 
not  permit  me  to  sleep.  At  noon  next  day  I  was 
taken  from  my  cell,  and  brought  again  before  the 
warden,  Mr.  Robinson,  who  kindly  said : 

"  You  have  no  trade,  you  say ;  what  do  you  want 
to  go  to  work  at  ?" 

"  Anything  light ;  I  am  not  used  to  hard  labor," 
I  replied. 

So  the  warden  directed  that  I  should  be  put  at 
work  in  the  brush  shop,  where  all  kinds  of  brushes 
were  made.  Mr.  Eddy  was  the  officer  in  charge  of 
this  shop,  and  Mr.  Knowles,  the  contractor  for  the 
labor  employed  in  the  brush  business,  was  present. 
Both  of  these  gentlemen  took  pains  to  instruct  me 
in  the  work  I  was  to  begin  upon,  and  were  very  kind 
in  their  manner  towards  me.  I  went  to  work  in  a 
bungling  way  and  with  a  sad  and  heavy  heart.  At 
12  o'clock  we  were  marched  from  the  shop  to  our 
cells,  each  man  taking  from  a  trap  in  the  wall,  as 
he  went  by,  his  pan  containing  his  dinner,  which 
consisted,  that  day,  of  boiled  beef  and  potatoes.  ]t 
was  probably  the  worst  dinner  I  had  ever  eaten,  but 


SEVEN   PRISON'S.  27 

I  had  yet  to  learn  what  prison  fare  was.  From  one 
o'clock  to  six  I  was  in  the  shop  again ;  then  came 
supper — mush  and  molasses  that  evening,  which  was 
varied,  as  I  learned  afterwards,  on  different  days  by 
rye  bread,  or  Indian  bread  and  rye  coffee.  These 
tilings  were  also  served  for  breakfast,  and  the  din- 
ners were  varied  on  different  days  in  the  week. 
The  fare  wras  very  coarse,  always,  but  abundant  and 
wholesome.  After  supper  prisoners  were  expected 
to  go  to  bed,  as  they  were  called  out  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning. 

I  stayed  in  the  brush  shop  three  or  four  months, 
but  I  made  very  little  progress  in  learning  the  trade. 
I  was  willing  enough  to  learn  and  did  my  best. 
From  the  day  I  entered  the  prison  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  behave  as  well  as  I  could ;  to  be  docile  and 
obedient,  and  to  comply  with  every  rule  and  order. 
Consequently  I  had  no  trouble,  and  the  officers  all 
treated  me  kindly.  Warden  Robinson  was  a  model 
man  for  his  position.  He  believed  that  prisoners 
could  be  reformed  more  easily  by  mild  than  by  harsh 
measures — at  least  they  would  be  more  contented 
Avith  their  lot  and  would  be  subordinate.  Every 
now  and  then  he  would  ask  prisoners  if  they  wero 
well  treated  by  the  officers ;  how  they  were  getting 


28  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

on ;  if  they  had  enough  to  eat,  and  so  on.  The  of- 
ficers seemed  imbued  with  the  warden's  spirit ;  the 
chaplain  of  the  prison,  who  conducted  the  Sunday 
services  and  also  held  a  Sunday  school,  was  one  of 
the  finest  men  in  the  world,  and  took  a  personal  in- 
terest in  every  prisoner.  Altogether,  it  was  a  model 
institution.  But  in  spite  of  good  treatment  I  was 
intensely  miserable  ;  my  mind  was  morbid ;  I  was 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  insane  ;  and  one  day  during  the 
dinner  hour,  I  opened  a  vein  in  each  arm  in  hopes 
that  I  should  bleed  to  death.  Bleed  I  did,  till  I 
fainted  away,  and  as  I  did  not  come  out  when  the 
other  prisoners  did,  the  officer  came  to  my  cell  and 
discovered  my  condition.  He  at  once  sent  for  the 
Doctor  who  came  and  stopped  the  hemorrhage,  and 
then  sent  me  to  the  hospital  where  I  remained  two 
weeks. 

After  I  came  out  of  the  hospital  the  Warden 
talked  to  me  about  my  situation  and  feelings.  He 
advised  me  to  go  into  the  blacksmith  shop,  of  course 
not  dreaming  that  I  knew  anything  of  the  work ; 
but  he  said  I  would  have  more  liberty  there ;  that 
the  men  moved  about  freely  and  could  talk  to  each 
other ;  that  the  work  mainly  was  sharpening  picks 
and  tools,  and  that  I  could  at  least  blow  and  strike. 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  29 

So  I  went  into  the  blacksmith  shop,  and  remained 
there  six  weeks.  But,  debilitated  as  I  was,  the  work 
was  too  hard  for  me,  and  so  the  warden  put  me  in 
the  yard  to  do  what  I  could.  I  also  swept  the  halls 
and  assisted  in  the  cook-room.  One  day  when  the 
warden  spoke  to  me,  I  told  him  that  I  knew  some- 
thing about  taking  care  of  the  sick,  and  after  some 
conversation,  he  transferred  me  to  the  hospital  as  a 
nurse. 

Here,  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  contentment  in 
prison,  I  was  comparatively  happy.  I  nursed  the 
sick  and  administered  medicines  under  direction  of 
the  doctor.  I  had  too,  with  an  easy  position,  more 
liberty  than  any  other  prisoner.  I  could  go  any- 
where about  the  halls  and  yard,  and  in  a  few  weeks 
I  was  frequently  sent  on  an  errand  into  the  town. 
Every  one  seemed  to  have  the  fullest  confidence  in 
me.  The  Warden  talked  to  me  whenever  he  saw 
me,  and  always  had  some  kind  word  for  me.  One 
day  I  ventured  to  speak  to  him  about  his  horse,  of 
which  he  was  very  proud,  and  indeed  the  horse  was 
a  very  fine  one. 

"  Mr.  Warden,"  said  I,  "  that's  a  noble  horse  of 
yours ;  but  he  interferes  badly,  and  that  is  only  be- 


30  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

cause  he  is  badly  shod.  If  you  will  trust  me,  I  can 
shoe  him  so  as  to  prevent  all  that." 

"  Can  you  ?"  exclaimed  the  Warden  in  great  sur- 
prise ;  "  Well,  if  you  can,  I'll  give  you  a  good  piece 
of  bread  and  butter,  or  anything  else  you  want." 

"  I  don't  want  your  bread  and  butter,"  said  I,  "but 
I  will  shoe  your  horse  as  he  has  never  been  shod  be- 
fore." 

"  Well,  take  the  horse  to  the  shop  and  see  what 
you  can  do." 

Of  course,  I  knew  that  by"  bread  and  butter"  the 
warden  meant  that  if  I  could  shoe  his  favorite  horse 
so  as  to  prevent  him  from  interfering,  he  would 
gladly  favor  me  as  far  as  he  could  ;  and  I  knew,  too, 
that  I  could  make  as  good  a  shoe  as  any  horse  need 
wear.  I  gladly  led  the  horse  to  the  shop  where  I 
had  so  signally  failed  in  pick  and  tool  sharpening, 
and  was  received  with  jeers  by  my  old  comrades  who 
wanted  to  know  what  I  was  going  to  do  to  that 
horse." 

"  0,  simply  shoe  him,"  I  said. 

This  greatly  increased  the  mirth  of  my  former 
shopmates ;  but  their  amusement  speedily  changed  to 
amazement  as  they  saw  me  make  my  nails,  turn  the 
shoes  and  neatly  put  them  on.     In  due  time  the 


SLVKN    PRISONS.  31 

horse  was  shod,  and  I  led  him  to  the  Warden  for 
inspection  ;  and  before  him  and  an  officer  who  stood 
by  him,  I  led  the  horse  up  and  down  to  show  that 
he  did  not  interfere.  The  Warden's  delight  was 
unbounded ;  he  never  saw  such  a  set  of  shoes ;  he 
declared  that  they  fitted  as  if  they  had  grown  to  the 
horse's  hoofs.  I  need  not  say  that  from  that  day  till 
the  day  I  left  the  prison,  I  had  everything  I  wanted 
from  the  Warden's  own  table  ;  I  fared  as  well  as  he 
did,  and  had  favors  innumerable. 

About  once  a  month  I  shod  that  horse,  little  think- 
ing that  he  was  to  carry  me  over  my  three  years' 
imprisonment  in  just  half  that  time.  Yet  so  it  was. 
For  talking  now  almost  daily,  in  the  hospital  or  in 
the  yard,  with  the  warden,  he  became  interested  in 
me,  and  in  answer  to  his  inquiries  I  told  him  the 
whole  story  of  my  persecution,  as  I  considered  it, 
my  trial  and  my  unjust  and  severe  sentence.  When 
he  had  heard  all  he  said : 

"  You  ought  not  to  be  here  another  day ;  you 
ought  to  go  out." 

The  good  chaplain  also  interested  himself  in  my 
case,  and  after  hearing  the  story,  he  and  the  Warden 
took  a  lawyer  named  Bemis,  into  their  counsel,  laid 
the  whole  matter  before  him  and  asked  his  opinion. 


32  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

Mr.  Bemis,  after  hearing  all  the  circumstances,  ex- 
pressed the  belief  that  I  might  get  a  pardon.  He 
entered  into  the  matter  with  his  whole  heart.  He 
sent  for  my  son  Henry  and  my  first  wife,  and  they 
came  and  corroborated  my  statement  about  the 
mutual  agreement  for  separation,  and  told  how  long 
we  had  been  parted.  Mr.  Bemis  and  they  then 
went  to  Governor  Briggs,  and  told  him  the  story, 
and  that  I  had  served  out  half  of  my  severe  sentence, 
and  pressed  for  a  pardon.  The  Governor  after  due 
deliberation  consented  to  their  request.  They  came 
back  to  Charlestown  with  the  joyful  intelligence. 
Warden  Robinson  advised  my  son,  that  considering 
my  present  mental  and  physical  condition,  he  had 
better  break  the  intelligence  gradually  to  me,  and  so 
Henry  came  to  me  and  said,  simply,  that  he  thought 
he  would  soon  have  "  good  news  "  for  me.  The 
next  day  I  was  told  that  my  pardon  was  certain. 
The  day  following,  at  12  o'clock,  I  walked  out,  after 
eighteen  months'  imprisonment,  a  free  man.  I  was 
in  the  streets  of  Charlestown  with  my  own  clothes 
on  and  five  dollars,  given  to  me  by  the  Warden,  in 
my  pocket.  I  was  poor,  truly,  but  I  was  at  liberty, 
and  that  for  the  day  was  enough. 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  33 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   SCHEMER   SENSATION. 

THE     SCHEIMER      FAMILY — IN     LOVE     WITH     SARAH — ATTEMPT    TO 

ELOPE — HOW    IT     WAS     PREVENTED THE     8ECOND     ATTEMPT A 

MIDNIGHT    EXPEDITION THE  ALARM A    FRIGHTFUL   BEATING 

ESCAPE FLOGGING    THE  DEVIL  OUT  OF  SARAH WINTER  IN  NEW 

HAMPSHIRE RETURN    TO    NEW     JERSEY "  BOSTON    YANKEE  " 

PLANS  TO  SECURE  SARAH. 

I  went  at  once  to  the  Prisoners  Home,  where  I 
was  kindly  received,  and  I  stayed  there  two  days. 
The  superintendent  then  paid  my  passage  to  Pitts- 
field  where  I  wished  to  go  and  meet  my  son.  Prom 
Pittsfield  I  went  to  Albany,  then  to  New  York,  and 
from  there  to  Newtown,  N.  J.  Here  I  went  into 
practice,  meeting  with  almost  immediate  success, 
and  staid  there  two  months.  It  was  my  habit  to  go 
from  town  to  town  to  attend  to  cases  of  a  certain 
class  and  to  sell  my  vegetable  preparations ;  and 
from  Newtown  I  went  to  Belvidere,  stopping  at  in- 
termediate towns  on  the  way,  and  from  Belvidere  I 
went  to  Harmony,  a  short  distance  below,  to  attend 
a  case  of  white  swelling,  which  I  cured. 


34  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

Now  just  across  the  Delaware  river,  nine  miles 
above  Easton,  Penn.,  lived  a  wealthy  Dutch  farmer, 
named  Scheimer,  who  heard  of  the  cure  I  had  ef- 
fected in  Harmony,  and  as  he  had  a  son,  sixteen 
years  of  age,  afflicted  in  the  same  way,  he  sent  for 
me  to  come  and  see  him.  I  crossed  the  river,  saw 
the  boy,  and  at  Scheimer's  request  took  up  my  res- 
idence with  him  to  attend  to  the  case.  He  was  to 
give  me,  with  my  board,  five  hundred  dollars  if  I 
cured  the  boy ;  but  though  the  boy  recovered  under 
my  treatment,  I  never  received  my  fee  for  reasons 
which  will  appear  anon.  I  secured  some  other  prac- 
tice in  the  neighborhood,  and  frequently  visited 
Easton,  Belvidere,  Harmony,  Oxford,  and  other  near 
by  places  on  either  side  of  the  river. 

The  Scheimer  family  consisted  of  the  "  old  folks  " 
and  four  sons  and  four  daughters,  the  children  grown 
up,  for  my  patient,  sixteen  years  old,  was  the  young- 
est. The  youngest  daughter,  Sarah,  eighteen  years 
old,  was  an  accomplished  and  beautiful  girl.  Now 
it  would  seem  as  if  with  my  sad  experiencel  ought  by 
this  time,  to  have  turned  my  back  on  women  forever. 
But  I  think  I  was  a  monomaniac  on  the  subject  of 
matrimony.  My  first  wife  had  so  misused  me  that 
it  was  always  in  my  mind  that  some  reparation  was 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  §5 

due  me,  and  that  I  was  fairly  entitled  to  a  good 
helpmate.  The  ill-success  of  my  efforts,  hitherto, 
to  secure  one,  and  my  consequent  sufferings  were 
all  lost  upon  me — experience,  bitter  experience,  had 
taught  me  nothing. 

I  had  not  been  in  the  Scheimer  family  three 
months  before  I  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  Sarah 
and  she  returned  my  passion.  She  promised  to 
marry  me,  but  said  there  was  no  use  in  saying  any- 
thing to  her  parents  about  it ;  they  would  never  con- 
sent on  account  of  the  disparity  in  our  ages,  for  I 
was  then  forty  years  old  ;  but  she  would  marry  me 
nevertheless,  if  we  had  to  run  away  together. 
Meanwhile,  the  old  folks  had  seen  enough  of  our  in- 
timacy to  suspect  that  it  might  lead  to  something 
yet  closer,  and  one  day  Mr.  Scheimer  invited  me  to 
leave  his  house  and  not  to  return.  I  asked  for  one 
last  interview  with  Sarah,  which  was  accorded,  and 
wc  then  arranged  a  plan  by  which  she  should  meet 
me  the  next  afternoon  at  four  o'clock  at  the  Jersey 
ferry,  a  mile  below  the  house,  when  we  proposed  to 
quietly  cross  over  to  Belvidcre  and  get  married.  I 
then  took  leave  of  her  and  the  family,  and  went 
away. 


36  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

The  next  day,  at  the  appointed  time,  I  was  at  the 
ferry — Sarah,  as  I  learned  afterwards,  left  the  house 
at  a  much  earlier  hour  to  "  take  a  walk,"  and  while 
she  was,  foolishly  I  think,  making  a  circuitous  route 
to  reach  the  ferry,  her  father,  who  suspected  that  she 
intended  to  run  away,  went  to  the  ferryman  and  told 
him  his  suspicions,  directing  him  if  Sarah  came 
there  by  no  means  to  permit  her  to  cross  the  river. 
Consequently  when  Sarah  met  me  at  the  ferry,  the 
ferryman  flatly  refused  to  let  either  of  us  go  over. 
He  knew  all  about  it,  he  said,  and  it  was  "  no  go." 
I  had  two  hundred  dollars  in  my  pocket  and  I  of- 
fered him  any  reasonable  sum,  if  he  would  only  let 
us  cross  ;  but  no,  he  knew  the  Scheimers  better  than 
he  knew  me,  and  •  their  good  will  was  worth  more 
than  mine.  Here  was  a  block  to  the  game,  indeed. 
I  had  sent  my  baggage  forward  in  the  morning  to 
Belvidere ;  Sarah  had  nothing  but  the  clothes  she 
wore,  for  she  was  so  carefully  watched  that  she 
could  carry  or  send  nothing  away ;  but  she  was  ready 
to  go  if  the  obstinate  ferryman  had  not  prevented  us. 

While  we  were  pressing  the  ferryman  to  favor  us, 
down  came- one  of  Sarah's  brothers  with  a  dozen 
neighbors,  and  told  her  she  must  return  home  or  he 
would  carry  her  back  by  force.     I  interfered  and 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  37 

said  she  should  not  go.  Whereupon  one  fellow  took 
hold  of  me  and  I  promptly  knocked  him  down,  and 
notified  the  crowd  that  the  first  man  who  laid  hands 
on  me,  or  who  attempted  to  take  her  home  violently, 
would  get  a  dose  from  my  pistol  which  I  then  ex- 
hibited : 

"  Sarah  must  go  willingly  or  not  at  all,"  said  I. 

The  production  of  my  pistol,  the  only  weapon  in 
the  crowd,  brought  about  a  new  state  of  affairs,  and 
the  brother  and  others  tried  persuasion  ;  but  Sarah 
stoutly  insisted  that  she  would  not  return.  "  Now 
hold  on,"  boys,  said  I,  "  I  am  going  to  say  something 
to  her."  I  then  took  her  aside  and  told  her  that 
there  was  no  use  in  trying  to  run  away  then ;  that 
she  had  better  go  home  quietly,  and  tell  the  folks 
that  she  was  sorry  for  what  she  had  done,  that  she 
had  broken  off  with  me,  and  would  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  me ;  that  I  would  surely  see  her 
to-morrow,  and  then  we  could  make  a  new  plan.  So 
she  announced  her  willingness  to  go  quietly  home 
with  her  brother  and  she  did  so.  I  went  to  a  pub- 
lic house  half  a  mile  below  the  ferry.  That  night 
the  gang  came  down  to  this  house  with  the  inten- 
tion of  driving  me  away  from  the  place,  or,  possibly, 
of   doing   something  worse  ;  but   while   they   were 


38  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

howling  outside,  the  landlord  sent  me  to  my  room 
and  then  went  out  and  told  the  crowd  I  had  gone 
away. 

The  next  morning  I  boldly  walked  up  to  Schei- 
mer's  house  to  get  a  few  books  and  other  things  I 
had  left  there,  and  I  saw  Sarah.  I  told  her  to  be 
ready  on  the  following  Thursday  night  and  I  would 
have  a  ladder  against  her  window  for  her  to  escape 
by.  She  promised  to  be  ready.  Meantime,  though 
I  had  been  in  the  house  but  a  few  minutes,  some 
one  who  had  seen  me  go  in  gathered  the  crowd  of 
the  day  before,  and  the  first  thing  I  knew  the  house 
was  beseiged.  Mrs.  Scheimer  had  gone  up  stairs 
for  my  things.  I  went  out  and  faced  the  little  mob. 
I  was  told  to  leave  the  place  or  they  would  kill  me. 
One  of  Sarah's  brothers  ran  into  the  house,  brought 
out  a  musket  and  aimed  it  at  me ;  but  it  missed  fire. 
I  drew  my  pistol  the  crowd  keeping  well  away  then, 
and  told  him  that  if  he  did  not  instantly  bring  that 
musket  to  me  I  would  shoot  him.  He  brought  it, 
and  I  threw  it  over  the  fence,  Sarah  crying  out  from 
the  window,  "  good !  good !"  The  mob  then  turned 
and  abused  and  blackguarded  her.  Then  the  old 
lady  came  out,  bringing  a  carpet  bag  containing 
my  books  and  things,  asking  me  to  see  if  "  it  was  all 


i»^-~  WA 


///— —       — =:  '/ 'liiSmWmmV  ■ 


J 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  41 

right."  I  had  no  disposition  to  stop  and  examine 
just  then ;  I  told  the  mob  I  had  no  other  business 
there  ;  that  I  was  going  away,  and  to  my  surprise,  I 
confess,  I  was  permitted  to  leave  the  place  unmo- 
lested. 

It  is  quite  certain  the  ferryman  made  no  objec- 
tion to  my  crossing,  and  I  went  to  Belvidere  where  I 
remained  quietly  till  the  appointed  Thursday  night, 
when  I  started  with  a  trusty  man  for  Scheimer's.  We 
timed  our  journey  so  as  to  arrive  there  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  Ever  since  her  attempt  to 
elope,  Sarah  had  been  watched  night  and  day,  and 
to  prevent  her  abduction  by  me,  Mr.  Scheimer  had 
two  or  three  men  in  the  house  to  stand  guard  at 
night.  Sarah  was  locked  in  her  room,  which  is 
precisely  what  we  had  provided  for,  for  no  one  in 
Lhe  house  supposed  that  she  could  escape  by  the 
window.  There  was  a  big  dog  on  the  premises,  but 
he  and  I  were  old  friends,  and  he  seemed  very  glad 
to  see  me  when  I  came  on  the  ground  on  this  event- 
ful night.  Sarah  was  watching,  and  when  I  made 
the  signal  she  opened  the  window  and  threw  out  her 
ready  prepared  bundle.  Then  my  man  and  I  set 
the  ladder  and  she  came  safely  to  the  ground.  A 
moment  more  and  we  would  have  stolen  away,  when, 


42  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

as  ill  luck  would  have  it,  the  ladder  fell  with  a  great 
crash,  and  the  infernal  dog,  that  a  moment  before 
seemed  almost  in  our  confidence,  set  up  a  howl  and 
then  barked  loud  enough  to  wake  the  dead. 

Forthwith  issued  from  the  house  old  Scheimer, 
two  of  his  sons  and  his  hired  guard — a  half  dozen 
in  all.  There  was  a  time  then.  The  girl  was  in- 
stantly seized  and  taken  into  the  house.  Then  all 
hands  fell  upon  us  two,  and  though  I  and  my  man 
fought  our  best  they  managed  to  pound  us  nearly  to 
death.  The  dog,  too,  in  revenge  no  doubt  for  the 
scare  the  ladder  had  given  him,  or  perhaps  to  show 
his  loyalty  to  his  master,  assisted  in  routing  us,  and 
put  in  a  bite  where  he  could.  It  is  a  wonder  we 
were  not  killed.  Sarah,  meanwhile,  was  calling  out 
from  the  house,  and  imploring  them  not  to  murder 
us.  How  we  ever  got  away  I  hardly  know  now,  but 
presently  we  found  ourselves  in  the  road  running  for 
our  lives,  and  running  also  for  the  carriage  we  had 
concealed  in  the  woods,  half  a  mile  above.  We 
reached  it,  and  hastily  unhitching  and  getting  in  we 
drove  rapidly  for  the  bridge  crossing  over  to  Belvi- 
dere.  That  beautiful  August  night  had  very  few 
charms  for  us.  It  would  have  been  different  indeed 
if  I  had  succeeded  in  securing  my  Sarah ;  and  to 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  43 

think  of  having  the  prize  in  my  very  grasp,  and  then 
losing  all ! 

We  reached  the  hotel  in  Belvidere  at  about  half- 
past  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  wearied,  worn, 
bruised  and  disheartened.  My  man  had  not  suffered 
nearly  as  severely  as  I  had  ;  the  bulk  of  their  blows 
fell  upon  me,  and  I  had  the  sorest  body  and  the 
worst  looking  face  I  had  ever  exhibited.  I  rested 
one  day  and  then  hurried  on  to  New  York.  Of 
course,  I  had  no  means  of  knowing  the  feelings  or 
condition  of  the  loved  girl  from  whom  I  had  been  so 
suddenly  and  so  violently  parted.  I  only  learned 
from  an  Easton  man  whom  I  knew  and  whom  I  met 
in  the  city,  that  "  Sarah  Scheimer  was  sick  " — that 
was  all ;  the  man  said  he  did'nt  know  the  family 
very  well,  but  he  had  heard  that  Miss  Scheimer 
had  been  "  out  of  her  head,  if  not  downright  crazy." 

Crazy  indeed !  How  mad  and  how  miserable  that 
poor  girl  was  made  by  her  own  family,  I  did  not 
know  till  months  afterward,  and  then  I  had  the  ter- 
rible story  from  her  own  lips.  It  seems  that  when 
her  father  and  his  gang  returned  from  pursuing  me, 
as  they  did  a  little  way  up  the  road  towards  Belvidere, 
they  found  her  almost  frantic.  They  locked  her  up 
in  her  room  that  night  with  no  one  to  say  so  much 


44  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

as  a  kind  word  to  her.  How  she  passed  that  night, 
after  the  scenes  she  had  witnessed,  and  the  abuse 
with  which  her  father  and  brothers  had  loaded  her 
before  they  thrust  her  into  her  prison,  may  be  imag- 
ined. The  next  day  she  was  wrought  up  to  a  frenzy. 
Her  parents  pronounced  her  insane,  and  called  in  a 
Dutch  doctor  who  examined  her  and  said  she  was 
"  bewitched  !"  And  this  is  the  remedy  he  proposed 
as  a  cure ;  he  advised  that  she  should  be  soundly 
flogged,  and  the  devil  whipped  out  of  her.  Her 
family,  intensely  angered  at  her  for  the  trouble  she 
had  made  them,  or  rather  had  caused  them  to  make 
for  themselves,  were  only  too  glad  to  accept  the  ad- 
vice. The  old  man  and  two  sons  carried  a  sore 
bruise  or  two  apiece  they  got  from  me  the  night  be- 
fore, and  seized  the  opportunity  to  pay  them  off  upon 
her.  So  they  stripped  her  bare,  and  flogged  her  till 
her  back  was  a  mass  of  welts  and  cuts,  and  then  put 
her  to  bed.  That  bed  she  never  left  for  two  months, 
and  then  came  out  the  shadow  of  her  former  self. 
But  the  Dutch  doctor .  declared  that  the  devil  was 
whipped  out  of  her,  and  that  she  was  entirely  cured. 
A  few  months  afterward  the  family  had  the  best  of 
reasons  for  believing  that  they  had  whipped  the  devil 
into  her,  instead  of  out  of  her. 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  45 

After  staying  in  New  York  a  few  days,  I  went  to 
Dover,  N.  H.,  where  I  had  some  acquaintances,  and 
where  I  hoped  to  get  into  a  medical  practice,  which, 
with  the  help  of  my  friends,  I  did  very  soon.  I 
lived  quietly  in  that  place  all  winter,  earning  a  good 
living  and  laying  hy  some  money.  During  the 
whole  time  I  never  heard  a  word  from  Sarah.  I 
wrote  at  least  fifty  letters  to  her,  hut  as  I  learned 
afterward,  and,  indeed,  surmised  at  the  time,  every 
one  of  them  was  intercepted  hy  her  father  or  broth- 
ers, and  she  did  not  know  where  I  was  and  so  could 
not  write  to  me.  I  left  Dover  in  May  and  went 
down  to  New  York.  I  had  some  business  there 
which  was  soon  transacted,  and  early  in  June  I  went 
over  to  New  Jersey — to  Oxford,  a  small  place  near 
Belvidere. 

This  place  I  meant  to  make  my  base  of  operations 
for  the  new  campaign  I  had  been  planning  all  winter. 
I  "  put  up  "  at  a  public  house  kept  by  a  man  who 
was  known  in  the  region  round  about  as  the  "  Boston 
Yankee,"  for  he  migrated  from  Boston  to  New  Jer- 
sey and  was  doing  a  thriving  business  at  hotel  keep- 
ing in  Oxford.  What  a  thorough  good-fellow  he 
was  will  presently  appear.  I  had  been  in  the  hotel 
four  days  and  had  become  pretty  intimate  with  tho 


46  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

landlord  before  I  ventured  to  make  inquiries  about 
what  I  was  most  anxious  to  learn ;  but  finally  I 
asked  him  if  he  knew  the  Scheimers  over  the  river  ? 
He  looked  at  me  in  a  very  comical  way,  and  then 
broke  out : 

"  Well,  I  declare,  I  thought  I  knew  you ;  you're 
the  chap  that  tried  to  run  away  with  old  Scheimer's 
daughter  Sarah,  last  August ;  and  you're  down  here 
to  get  her  this  time,  if  you  can." 

I  owned  up  to  my  identity,  but  warned  Boston 
Yankee  that  if  he  told  any  one  who  I  was,  or  that 
I  was  about  there,  I'd  blow  his  brains  out. 

"  You  keep  cool,"  said  he,  "  don't  you  be  uneasy  ; 
I'm  your  friend  and  the  gal's  friend,  and  I'll  help 
you  both  all  I  can ;  and  if  you  want  to  carry  off 
Sarah  Scheimer  and  marry  her,  I'll  tell  you  how  to 
work  it.  You  see  she  has  been  watched  as  closely 
as  possible  all  winter,  ever  since  she  got  well,  for 
she  was  crazy-like,  awhile.  Well,  you  could'nt  get 
nearer  to  her,  first  off,  than  you  could  to  the  North 
Pole  ;  but  do  you  remember  Mary  Smith  who  was 
servant  gal  there  when  you  boarded  with  Scheimer  ?" 
I  remembered  the  girl  well  and  told  him  so,  and  he 
continued :  "  Well,  I  saw  her  the  other  day,  and 
she  told  me  she  was  living  in  Easton,  and  where  she 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  47 

could  be  found ;  now,  I'll  give  you  full  directions 
and  do  you  take  my  horse  and  buggy  to-morrow 
morning  early  and  go  down  and  see  her,  and  get  her 
to  go  over  and  let  Sarah  know  that  you're  round ; 
meantime  I'll  keep  dark ;  I  know  my  business  and 
you  know  yours." 

I  need  not  say  how  overjoyed  I  was  to  find  this 
new  and  most  unexpected  friend,  and  how  gratefully 
I  accepted  his  offer.  He  gave  me  the  street,  house 
and  number  where  Mary  Smith  lived  and  during  the 
evening  we  planned  together  exactly  how  the  whole 
affair  was  to  be  managed,  from  beginning  to  end.  I 
went  to  bed,  but  could  scarcely  sleep ;  and  all  night 
long  I  was  agitated  by  alternate  hopes  and  fears  for 
the  success  of  the  scheme  of  to-morrow. 


48  SEVEN    WIVES  AND 


CHAPTER   IV. 

SUCCESS    WITH    SARAH. 

mary  saiith  as  a  confederate — the  plot — waiting  in  the 
woods the  spy  outwitted — sarah  secured the  pursu- 
ers baffled night  on  j'he  road efforts  to  get  mar- 
ried— the  "old  offender" — married  at  last a  consta- 
ble after  sarah — he  gives  it  up an  ale  orgie return 

to  "  boston  Yankee's  " — a  home  in  goshen. 

It  was  Saturday  morning,  and  after  an  early  break- 
fast I  was  on  the  road  with  Boston  Yankee's  fast 
horse,  towards  Easton.  On  my  arrival  there  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  finding  Mary  Smith,  who  recognized  me 
at  once,  and  was  very  glad  to  see  me.  She  knew  I 
had  come  there  to  learn  something  about  Sarah  ;  she 
had  seen  her  only  a  week  ago ;  she  was  well  again, 
and  the  girls  had  talked  together  about  me.  This 
was  pleasant  to  hear,  and  I  at  once  proposed  to  Mary 
to  go  to  Scheimer's  and  tell  Sarah  that  I  was  there  ; 
I  would  give  her  ten  dollars  if  she  would  go.  "  0 ! 
she  would  gladly  serve  us  both  for  nothing." 

So  she  made  herself  ready,  got  into  the  buggy, 
and  we  started  for  Scheimer's.  When  we  were  well 
on  the  road  I  said  to  her  : 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  49 

"  Now,  Mary,  attend  carefully  to  what  I  say :  you 
will  need  to  be  very  cautious  in  breaking  the  news  to 
Sarah  that  I  am  here ;  she  has  already  suffered  a 
great  deal  on  my  account,  and  may  be  very  timid 
about  my  being  in  the  neighborhood  ;  but  if  she  still 
loves  me  as  you  say  she  does,  she  will  run  any  risk 
to  see  me,  and,  if  I  know  her,  she  will  be  glad  to  go 
away  with  me.  Now,  this  is  what  you  must  do  ; 
you  must  see  her  alone  and  tell  her  my  plan ;  here, 
take  this  diamond  ring ;  she  knows  it  well ;  manage 
to  let  her  see  it  on  your  finger ;  then  tell  her  that  if 
she  is  willing  to  leave  home  and  marry  me,  I  will  be 
in  the  woods  half  a  mile  above  her  house  to-morrow 
afternoon  at  5  o'clock,  with  a  horse  and  buggy  ready 
to  carry  her  to  Belvidere.  If  she  will  not,  or  dare 
not  come,  give  her  the  ring,  and  tell  her  we  part, 
good  friends,  forever." 

It  was  a  beautiful  afternoon  as  we  drove  along  the 
road.  We  talked  about  Sarah  and  old  times,  and  I 
made  her  repeat  my  instructions  over  and  over  ftffain 
and  she  promised  to  convey  every  word  to  Sarah. 
We  neared  Scheimer's  house  about  six  o'clock,  and 
when  we  were  a  little  way  from  there  I  told  Mary 
to  get  out,  so  as  to  excite  no  suspicions  as  to  who 
I  was;    she  did  so,  and    I  waited  till  I  saw  her 


50  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

go  into  the  house,  and  then  drove  rapidly  by  towards 
the  Belvidere  bridge,  and  was  safely  at  Oxford  by 
nightfall.  I  told  my  friend,  the  landlord,  what  I  had 
done,  and  he  said  that  everything  was  well  planned. 
He  also  promised  to  go  with  me  next  day  to  assist 
me  if  necessary,  and,  said  he : 

"  If  everything  is  all  right,  do  you  carry  off  the 
girl  and  I'll  walk  up  to  Belvidere ;  but  don't  bring 
Sarah  this  way — head  toward  Water  Gap.  When 
you're  married  fast  and  sure,  you  can  come  back 
here  as  leisurely  as  you're  a  mind  to,  and  nobody 
can  lay  a  hand  upon  you  or  her." 

We  arranged  some  other  minor  details  of  our  ex- 
pedition and  I  went  to  bed. 

The  next  afternoon  at  four  o'clock  I  was  at  the 
appointed  place,  and  Boston  Yankee  was  with  me. 
I  did  not  look  for  Sarah  before  five  o'clock,  so  we 
tied  our  horse  and  .kept  a  good  watch  upon  the  road. 
An  hour  went  by  and  no  Sarah  appeared.  I  told 
Boston  Yankee  I  did  not  believe  she  would  come. 

"  Don't  be  impatient ;  wait  a  little  longer,"  said 
my  friend. 

In  twenty  minutes  we  saw  emerge,  not  from  Schei- 
mer'fl  house,  but  from  his  eldest  son's  house,  which 
was  still  nearer  to  the  place  where  we  were  waiting, 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  51 

three  women,  two  of  whom  I  recognized  as  Sarah 
and  Mary,  and  the  third  I  did  not  know,  nor  could  I 
imagine  why  she  was  with  the  other  two;  but  £S 
I  saw  them,  leaving  Boston  Yankee  in  the  woods,  I 
drove  the  horse  down  into  the  road.  As  Sarah  drew 
near  she  kissed  her  hand  to  me  and  came  up  to  tha 
wagon.  "  Are  you  ready  to  go  with  me  ?"  I  asked. 
"I  am,  indeed,"  was  her  reply,  and  I  put  out  my 
hand  to  help  her  into  the  buggy.  But  the  third  wo- 
man caught  hold  of  her  dress,  tried  to  prevent  her 
from  getting  in,  and  began  to  scream  so  as  to  attract 
attention  at  Sarah's  brother's  house.  I  told  the 
woman  to  let  her  go,  and  threatened  her  with  my 
whip.  "  Get  away,"  shouted  Boston  Yankee,  who 
had  come  upon  the  scene.  "  Drive  as  fast  as  }rou 
can  ;  never  mind  if  you  kill  the  horse." 

We  started  ;  the  woman  still  shouting  for  help,  and 
I  drove  on  as  rapidly  as  the  horse  would  go.  When 
we  had  gone  on  a  mile  or  two,  I  asked  Sarah  what 
all  this  meant  ?  She  told  me  that  the  woman  was 
her  brother's  servant ;  that  Mary  and  herself  left 
her  father's  house  a  little  after  four  o'clock  to  go 
over  and  call  at  her  brother's  ;  that  just  before  five, 
when  she  was  to  meet  me,  she  and  Mary  proposed 
to  go  out  for  a  walk  ;  -that  the  whole  family  watched  ' 


52  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

her  constantly,  and  so  her  brother's  wife  told  the 
servant  woman  to  get  on  her  things  and  go  with 
them.  "  You  may  be  sure,"  she  added,  "  that  the 
woman  will  arouse  the  whole  neighborhood,  and  that 
they  will  all  be  after  us."  I  needed  no  further  hint 
to  push  on.  We  were  going  toward  Water  Gap,  as 
Boston  Yankee  had  advised,  and  when  we  were  about 
eight  miles  on  the  way,  I  deemed  it  prudent  to  drive 
into  the  woods  and  to  wait  till  night  before  going 
on.  We  drove  in  just  off  the  road,  and  tied  our 
horse.  We  were  effectually  concealed ;  our  pursu- 
ers, if  there  were  any,  would  be  sure  to  go  by  us, 
and  meantime  we  could  talk  over  our  plans  for  the 
future.  Sarah  told  me  that  when  Mary  came  to  the 
house  the  night  before,  she  was  not  at  all  surprised 
to  see  her,  as  she  occasionally  came  up  from  Easton 
to  make  them  a  little  visit,  and  to  stay  all  night ; 
that  she  went  to  the  summer-house  with  Mary  to  sit 
down  and  talk,  and  almost  immediately  saw  the  ring 
on  Mary's  finger  ;  that  when  she  saw  it  she  at  once 
recognized  it,  and  asked  her :  "  0  !  Mary,  where  did 
you  get  that  ring  ?"  "  Keep  quiet,"  said  Mary : 
"  don't  talk  loud,  or  some  one  may  hear  you  ;  don't 
be  agitated  ;  your  lover  is  near,  and  has  sent  me  to 
tell  you."     It  was  joyful  news^to  Sarah,  and  how 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  53 

readily  she  had  acquiesced  in  my  plan  for  an  elope, 
ment  was  manifest  in  the  fact  that  she  was  then  by 
my  side. 

We  had  not  been  in  the  woods  an  hour  when,  as  I 
anticipated,  we  heard  our  pursuers,  we  did  not  know 
how  many  there  were,  drive  rapidly  by.  "  Now  we 
can  go  on,  I  suppose,"  said  Sarah.  "  Oh  no,  my 
dear,"  I  replied,"  now  is  just  the  time  to  wait  quiet- 
ly here ;"  and  wait  we  did  till  eight  o'clock,  when 
our  pursuers,  having  gone  on  a  few  miles,  and  hav- 
ing seen  or  learned  nothing  of  the  fugitives,  came 
by  again  "  on  the  back  track."  They  must  have 
thought  we  had  turned  off  into  some  other  road.  I 
waited  a  while  longer  to  let  our  friends  get  a  little 
nearer  home  and  further  away  from  us,  and  then 
took  the  road  again  toward  Water  Gap. 

We  reached  Water  Gap  at  midnight,  had  some  sup- 
per and  fed  the  horse.  We  rested  awhile,  and  then 
drove  leisurely  on  nine  miles  further,  where  we  waited 
till  daylight  and  crossed  the  river.  We  were  in  no 
great  hurry  now  ;  we  were  comparatively  safe  from 
pursuit.  We  soon  came  to  a  public  house,  where  we 
stopped  and  put  out  the  horse,  intending  to  take 
breakfast.  While  I  was  inquiring  of  the  landlord 
if  there  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  neighbor 


54  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

hood,  the  landlord's  wife  had  elicited  from  Sarah  the 
fact  of  our  elopement,  who  she  was,  who  her  folks 
were,  and  so  on.  The  well-meaning  landlady  ad- 
vised Sarah  to  go  back  home  and  get  her  parents' 
consent  before  she  married.  Sarah  suggested  that 
the  very  impossibility  of  getting  such  consent  was 
the  reason  for  her  running  away  ;  nor  did  it  appear 
how  she  was  to  go  back  home  alone  even  if  she  de- 
sired to.  We  saw  that  we  could  get  no  help  there, 
so  I  countermanded  my  order  for  breakfast,  offering 
at  the  same  time  to  pay  for  it  as  if  we  had  eaten  it, 
ordered  out  my  horse  and  drove  on.  After  riding 
some  ten  miles  we  arrived  at  another  public  house 
on  the  road,  and  as  the  landlord  come  out  to  the  door 
I  immediately  asked  him  where  I  could  find  a  justice 
of  the  peace  ?  He  laughed,  for  he  at  once  compre- 
hended the  whole  situation,  and  said : 

"  Well,  well !  I  am  an  old  offender  myself;  I  ran 
away  with  my  wife  ;  there  is  a  justice  of  the  peace 
two  miles  from  here,  and  if  you'll  come  in  I'll  have 
him  here  within  an  hour." 

We  had  reached  the  right  place  at  last,  for  while 
the  landlady  was  getting  breakfast  for  us,  and  doing 
her  best  to  make  us  comfortable  and  happy,  the  Old 
Offender  himself  took  his  horse   and  carriage  and 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  55 

went  for  the  justice.  By  the  time  we  had  finished 
our  breakfast  he  was  back  with  him,  and  Sarah  and 
I  were  married  "  in  less  than  no  time,"  the  Old  Of- 
fender and  his  wife  signing  the  certificate  as  wit- 
nesses. I  never  paid  a  fee  more  gladly.  We  were 
married  now,  and  all  the  Scheimers  in  Pennsylvania 
were  welcome  to  come  and  see  us  if  they  pleased. 

No  Scheimers  came  that  day  ;  but  the  day  follow- 
ing came  a  deputation  from  that  family,  some  half  doz- 
en delegates,  and  with  them  a  constable  from  Easton, 
with  a  warrant  to  arrest  Sarah  for  something — I 
never  knew  what — but  at  any  rate  he  was  to  take  her 
home  if  necessary  by  force.  The  Old  Offender  de- 
clined to  let  these  people  into  his  house  ;  Sarah  told 
me  to  keep  out  of  the  way  and  she  would  see  what 
was  wanted.  Whereupon  she  boldly  went  to  the 
door  and  greeted  those  of  her  acquaintances  who 
were  in  the  party.  The  constable  knew  her,  and 
told  her  he  had  come  to  take  her  home.  "  But  what  if 
I  refuse  to  go  ?"  "  Well,  then,  I  have  a  warrant  to 
take  you  ;  but  if  you  are  married,  I  have  no  power 
over  you."  Well,  married  I  am,"  said  Sarah,  and 
she  produced  the  certificate,  and  the  Old  Offender 
and  his  wife  came  out  and  declared  that  they  wit- 
nessed the  ceremony. 


56  SEVEN    WIVES   AND 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  evidently  nothing ;  only 
the  constable  ordered  a  whole  barrel  of  ale  to  treat 
his  posse  and  any  one  about  the  town  who  chose 
to  drink,  and  the  barrel  was  rolled  out  on  the  grass, 
tapped,  and  for  a  half  hour  there  was  a  great  jollifi- 
cation, which  was  not  exactly  in  honor  of  our  wed- 
ding, but  which  afforded  the  greatest  gratification  to 
the  constable,  his  retainers,  and  those  who  happened 
to  gather  to  see  what  was  going  on.  This  ended,  and 
the  bill  paid,  the  Easton  delegation  got  into  their 
wagons  and  turned  their  horses  heads  towards 
home. 

We  passed  three  delightful  days  under  the  Old 
Offender's  roof,  and  then  thanking  our  host  for  his 
kindness  to  us,  and  paying  our  bill,  we  started  on 
our  return  journey  for  Oxford.  We  arrived  safely, 
and  staid  with  Boston  Yankee  a  fortnight.  We  were 
close  by  the  Scheimer  homestead,  which  was  but  a 
few  miles  away  across  the  river ;  but  we  feared  nei- 
ther father  nor  brothers,  nor  even  the  woman  who 
was  so  unwilling  to  let  Sarah  go  with  me.  The  con- 
stable and  the  rest  had  carried  home  the  news  of  our 
marriage,  and  the  old  folks  made  the  best  of  it. 
Indeed,  after  they  heard  we  had  returned  to  Oxford, 
Sarah's  mother  sent  a  man  over  to  tell  her  that  if 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  57 

she  would  come  home  any  day  she  could  pack  her 
clothes  and  othe,r  things,  and  take  them  away  with 
her.  The  day  after  we  received  this  invitation,  Bos- 
ton Yankee  offered  to  take  Sarah  over  home,  and 
promised  to  bring  her  safely  back.  So  she  went, 
was  treated  tolerably  well,  and,  at  any  rate,  she 
secured  her  clothes  and  brought  them  home  with 
her. 

It  was  now  time  to  bid  forewell  to  our  staunch 
friend,  Boston  Yankee.  I  had  inducements  to  go  to 
Goshen,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  where  I  had  many 
acquaintances,  and  to  Goshen  we  went.  We  found 
a  good  boarding  place,  and  I  began  to  practice  medi- 
cine. After  we  had  been  there  a  while,  Sarah  wrote 
home  to  let  her  family  know  where  she  was,  and  that 
she  was  well  and  happy.  Her  father  wrote  in  reply 
that  we  both  might  come  there  at  any  time,  and  that 
if  she  would  come  home  he  would  do  as  well  by  her 
as  he  would  by  any  of  his  children.  This  letter 
made  Sarah  uneasy.  In  spite  of  all  the  ill  usage 
she  had  received  from  her  parents  and  family,  she 
was  nevertheless  homesick,  and  longed  to  get  back 
again.  I  could  see  that  this  feeling  grew  upon  her 
daily.  We  were  pleasantly  situated  where  we  were ; 
I  had  a  good  and  growing  practice,  and  we  had  made 


58  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

many  friends  ;  but  this  did  not  satisfy  her  ;  she  had 
some  property  in  her  own  right,  but  her  father  was 
trustee  of  it,  and  he  had  hitherto  kept  it  away  from 
her  from  spite  at  her  love  affair  with  me.  But  now 
she  was  to  be  taken  into  favor  again,  and  she  repre- 
sented to  me  that  we  could  go  back  and  get  her  mon- 
ey, and  that  I  could  establish  myself  there  as  well 
as  anywhere  ;  we  could  live  well  and  happily  among 
her  friends  and  old  associations.  These  things 
were  dinged  in  my  ears  day  after  day,  till  I  was  sick 
of  the  very  sound.  I  could  see  that  she  was  bound, 
or,  as  the  Dutch  doctor  would  have  said,  "  bewitch- 
ed" to  go  back,  and  at  last,  after  five  happy  months 
in  Goshen,  in  an  evil  hour  I  consented  to  go  home 
with  her. 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  59 


CHAPTER    V." 

HOW   THE   SCHEIMERS   MADE   ME   SUFFER. 

RETURN     TO     8CHEIMER'S — PEACE      AND       THEN      PANDEMONIUM 

FRIGHTFUL     FAMILY    ROW — RUNNING     FOR    REFUGE THE     GANG 

AGAIN — ARREST   AT    MIDNIGHT STRUGGLE  WITH    MY  CAPTORS 

IN     JAIL     ONCE     MORE PUT    IN     IRONS A     HORRIBLE     PRISON 

BREAKING  OUT THE  DUNGEON — SARAH'S  BABY— CURIOUS  COM- 
PROMISES— OLD  SCHEIMER  MY  JAILER — SIGNING  A  BOND — FREE 
AGAIN — LAST  WORDS  FROM  SARAH. 

"We  went  back  to  the  Scheimer  homestead  and 
were  favorably  received.  There  was  no  special  en- 
thusiasm over  our  return,  no  marked  demonstrations 
of  delight ;  but  they  seemed  glad  to  see  us,  and  all 
the  unpleasant  things  of  the  past,  if  not  forgotten, 
were  tacitly  ignored  on  all  sides.  We  passed  a 
pleasant  evening  together  in  what  seemed  a  re-unit- 
ed family  circle — one  of  the  brothers  only  was 
absent — and  next  morning  we  met  cordially  around 
the  breakfast  table.  I  really  began  to  think  it  was 
possible  that  all  the  old  difficulties  might  be  healed, 
and  that  the   pleasant   picture    Sarah   painted,   at 


60  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

Goshen,  about  settling  down  happily  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, could  be  fully  realized. 

After  breakfast  I  took  a  conveyance  to  go  three 
or  four  miles  to  see  a  man  who  owed  me  some 
money  for  medical  services  in  his  family,  and  was 
away  from  Scheimer's  three  or  four  hours.  During 
this  brief  absence  I  could  not  help  thinking  with 
genuine  satisfaction  of  the  happiness  Sarah  was  ex- 
periencing in  the  gratification  of  her  longing  to  re- 
turn home  again.  Surely,  I  thought,  she  must  be 
happy  now.  No  more  homesickness,  and  a  full  and 
complete  reconciliation  with  her  family ;  all  the  an- 
ger, abuse,  and  blows  forgotten  or  forgiven ;  she  re- 
stored to  her  place  in  the  family  ;  and  even  her  ob- 
jectionable husband  received  with  open  arms. 

But  what  an  enormous  difference  there  is  between 
fancy  and  fact.  During  this  brief  absence  of  mine, 
had  come  home  the  brother  who  had  always  seemed 
to  concentrate  the  hatred  of  the  whole  family  tow- 
ards me  for  the  wrong  they  assumed  I  had  done  to 
the  youngest  daughter  who  loved  me.  On  my  re- 
turn I  found  the  peaceful  home  I  left  in  the  morn- 
ing a  perfect  pandemonium.  Sarah  was  fairly  fran- 
tic. The  whole  family  were  abusing  her.  The  re- 
turned brother  especially,  was  calling  her  all  the 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  61 

vile  names  he  could  lay  his  tongue  to.  I  learned 
afterwards  that  he  had  been  doing  it  ever  since  he 
came  into  the  house  that  day  and  found  her  at  home 
and  heard  that  I  was  with  her.  They  had  picked, 
wrenched  rather,  out  of  her  the  secret  I  had  con- 
fided to  her  that  I  had  another  wife  from  whom  I 
was  "  separated,"  but  not  divorced.  My  sudden 
presence  on  this  scene  was  not  exactly  oil  on  troub- 
led waters  ;  it  was  gunpowder  to  fire.  As  soon  as 
Sarah  saw  me  at  the  door  she  cried  out : 
"  0 !  husband,  let  us  go  away  from  here." 
Her  mother  turned  and  shouted  at  me  that  I  had 
better  fly  at  once  or  they  would  kill  me.  Mean- 
while, that  mob,  which  the  Scheimer  boys  seemed 
always  to  have  at  hand,  was  gathering  in  the  door- 
yard.  I  managed  to  get  near  enough  to  Sarah  to 
tell  her  that  I  would  send  a  man  for  her  next  day, 
and  then  if  she  was  willing  to  come  with  me  she 
must  get  away  from  her  family  if  possible.  I  then 
made  a  rush  through  the  crowd,  and  reached  the 
road.  I  think  the  gang  had  an  indistinct  knowl- 
edge of  the  situation,  or  they  would  have  mobbed 
me,  and  perhaps  killed  me.  They  knew  something 
was  "  to  pay  "  at  Scheimer's,  but  did  not  know  ex- 
actly what.     Once  on  the  road  it  was  my  intention 


02  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

to  have  gone  over  to  Belvidere,  and  then  on  to  Ox- 
ford, where  I  should  have  found  a  sure  refuge  with 
my  friend  Boston  Yankee. 

Would  that  I  had  done  so ;  but  I  was  a  fool ;  I 
thought  I  could  be  of  service  to  Sarah  by  remaining 
near  her ;  I  might  see  her  next  day  ;  I  might  even 
be  able  to  get  her  out  of  the  house,  and  then  we 
could  once  more  elope  together  and  go  back  again 
to  Goshen  where  we  had  been  so  happy.  So  I  went 
to  a  public  house  three  miles  above  Scheimer's,  and 
remained  there  quietly  during  the  rest  of  the  day, 
revolving  plans  for  the  deliverance  of  Sarah.  I 
thought  only  of  her.  It  is  strange  that  I  did  not 
once  realize  what  a  perilous  position  I  was  in  my- 
self— that,  firmly  as  I  believed  myself  to  be  wedded 
to  Sarah,  I  was  in  fact  amenable  to  the  law,  and 
liable  to  arrest  and  punishment.  All  this  never  oc- 
curred to  me.  I  saw  one  or  two  of  the  gang  who 
were  at  Scheimer's  about  the  hotel,  but  they  did  not 
offer  to  molest  me,  and  I  paid  no  particular  attention 
to  them.  I  did  not  know  then  that  they  were  spies 
and  were  watching  my  movements.  At  nine  o'clock 
I  went  to  bed.  At  midnight,  or  thereabouts,  I  was 
roughly  awakened  and  told  to  get  up.  Without 
waiting  for  me  to  comply,  five  men  who  had  entered 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  '  63 

my  room  pulled  me  out  of  bed,  and  almost  before  I 
could  huddle  on  my  clothes  I  was  handcuffed.  Then 
one  of  them,  who  said  he  was  a  constable  from  Eas- 
ton,  showed  a  warrant  for  my  arrest.  What  the  ar- 
rest was  for  I  was  not  informed.  I  was  taken  down 
stairs,  put  into  a  wagon,  the  men  followed,  and  the 
horses  started  in  the  direction  of  Easton.  By 
,  Scheimer's  on  the  way,  and  I  could  see  a  light  in 
Sarah's  window.  I  remembered  how  in  all  the' 
Bedlam  in  the  house  that  morning  she  still  cried 
out :  "  I  will  go  with  him."  I  remembered  how, 
only  a  few  months  before,  she  had  been  brutally 
flogged  in  that  very  chamber,  to  "  get  the  devil  out 
of  her."  I  remembered,  too,  the  many  happy, 
happy  hours  we  had  passed  together.  And  here 
was  I,  handcuffed  and  dragged  in  a  wagon,  I  knew 
not  whither. 

This  for  thoughts — in  the  way  of  action,  I  was 
all  the  while  trying  to  get  my  handcuffs  off,  and  at 
last  I  succeeded  in  getting  one  hand  free.  Waiting 
my  opportunity  till  we  came  to  a  piece  of  woods,  I 
suddenly  jumped  up  and  sprang  from  the  wagon. 
It  was  a  very  dark  night,  and  in  running  into  the 
woods  I  struck  against  a  tree  with  such  force  as  to 
knock  me  down  and  nearly  stun  me.     Two  of  the 


64  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

men  were  on  me  in  an  instant.  After  a  brief  strug- 
gle I  managed  to  get  away  and  ran  again.  I  should 
have  escaped,  only  a  high  rail  fence  brought  me  to 
a  sudden  stop,  and  I  was  too  exhausted  to  climb 
over  it.  My  pursuers  who  were  hard  at  my  heels 
the  whole  while  now  laid  hold  of  me.  In  the  sub- 
sequent struggle  I  got  out  my  pocket  knife,  and 
stabbed  one  of  them,  cutting  his  arm  badly.  Then 
they  overpowered  me.  They  dragged  me  to  the 
roadside,  brought  a  rope  out  of  the  wagon,  bound 
my  arms  and  legs,  and  so  at  last  carried  me  to 
Easton. 

It  was  nearly  daylight  when  I  was  thrust  into  jail. 
There  were  no  cells,  only  large  rooms  for  a  dozen  or 
more  men,  and  I  was  put  into  one  of  these  with  sev- 
eral prisoners  who  were  awaiting  trial,  or  who  had 
been  tried  and  were  there  till  they  could  be  sent  to 
prison.  It  was  a  day  or  two  before  I  found  out  what 
I  was  there  for.  Then  a  Dutch  Deputy  Sheriff,  who 
was  also  keeper  of  the  jail,  came  and  told  me  that  I 
was  held  for  bigamy,  adding  the  consoling  intelli- 
gence that  it  would  be  a  very  hard  job  for  me,  and 
that  I  would  get  five  or  six  years  in  State  prison 
sure.  I  was  well  acquainted  in  Easton,  and  I  sent 
for  lawyer  Litgreave  for  assistance  and  advice.     I 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  65 

sent  also  to  my  half-sister  in  Delaware  County,  N. 
Y.,  and  in  a  day  or  two  she  came  and  saw  me,  and 
gave  Mr.  Litgreave  one  hundred  dollars  retaining 
fee.  My  lawyer  went  to  see  the  Scheimers  and 
when  he  returned  he  told  me  that  he  hoped  to  save 
me  from  State  prison — at  all  events  he  would  exer- 
cise the  influence  he  had  over  the  family  to  that  end ; 
but  I  must  expect  to  remain  in  jail  a  long  time. 
Precisely  what  this  meant  I  did  not  know  then  ;  but 
I  found  out  afterwards. 

Soon  after  this  visit  from  the  lawyer,  the  Deputy 
Sheriff  came  in  and  said  that  he  was  ordered  "  by 
the  Judge  "  to  iron  me,  and  it  was  done.  They 
were  heavy  leg-irons  weighing  full  twelve  pounds,  and 
I  may  say  here  that  I  wore  them  during  the  whole 
term  of  my  imprisonment  in  this  jail,  or  rather  they 
wore  me — wearing  their  way  in  time  almost  into  the 
bone.  I  had  been  here  a  week  now,  and  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  character  of  the  place.  It  was 
indescribably  filthy ;  no  pretence  was  made  of 
cleansing  it.  The  prisoners  were  half  fed,  and,  at 
that,  the  food  was  oftentimes  so  vile  that  starv- 
ing men  rejected  it.  The  deputy  who  kept  the  jail 
was  cruel  and  malignant,  and  took  delight  in  tor- 
turing his  prisoners.     He  would  come  in  sometimes 


66  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

under  pretence  of  looking  at  my  irons  to  see  if  they 
were  safe,  and  would  twist  and  turn  them  about  so 
that  I  suffered  intolerable  pain,  and  blood  flowed 
from  my  wounds  made  by  these  cruel  irons.  Such 
abuse  as  he  could  give  with  his  tongue  he  dispensed 
freely.  Of  course  he  was  a  coward,  and  he  never 
dared  to  come  into  one  of  the  prisoner's  rooms  un- 
less he  was  armed.  This  is  a  faithful  photograph 
of  the  interior  of  the  jail  at  Easton,  Penn.,   as  it 

was  a  few  years  ago  ;  there  may  have  been  some  im- 
i 

provement  since  that  time  ;  for  the  sake  of  humani- 
ty, I  hope  there  has  been. 

After  I  had  been  in  this  jail  about  six  weeks,  and 
had  become  well  acquainted  with  my  room-mates,  I 
communicated  to  them  one  day,  the  result  of  my  ob- 
servation : 

"  There,"  said  I,  showing  them  a  certain  place  in 
the  wall,  "  is  a  loose  stone  that  with,  a  little  labor 
can  be  lifted  out,  and  it  will  leave  a  hole  large 
enough  for  us  to  get  out  of  and  go  where  we  like." 

Examination  elicited  a  unanimous  verdict  in  favor 
of  making  the  attempt.  With  no  tools  but  a  case 
knife  we  dug  out  the  mortar  on  all  sides  of  the  stone 
doing  the  work  by  turns  and  covering  the  stone  by 
hanging  up  an  old  blanket; — which  excited  no  sus- 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  67 

picion,  as  it  was  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  iron  bed- 
steads— whenever  the  Deputy  or  any  of  his  men 
were  likely  to  visit  us.  In  twelve  days  we  complet- 
ed the  work,  and  could  lift  out  the  stone.  The  hole 
was  large  enough  to  let  a  man  through,  and  there 
was  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  to  crawl  out  one  after 
the  other,  and  drop  down  a  few  feet  into  the  yard. 
This  yard  was  surrounded  by  a  board  fence  that 
could  be  easily  surmounted.  I  intended  to  take  the 
lead,  after  taking  oif  my  irons  (which  I  had  learned 
to  do,  and  indeed,  did  every  day,  putting  them  on 
only  when  I  was  liable  to  be  "  inspected  ")  and  after- 
leaving  these  irons  at  the  Deputy's  door,  I  intended 
to  put  myself  on  the  Jersey  side  of  the  river  as 
speedily  as  possible. 

Liberty  was  within  reach  of  every  man  in  that 
room,  and  the  night  was  set  for  the  escape.  But 
one  of  the  crowd  turned  traitor,  and,  under  pretence 
of  speaking  to  the  Deputy  about  some  matter,  man- 
aged to  be  called  out  of  the  room  and  disclosed  the 
whole.  The  man  was  waiting  transportation  to  pris- 
on to  serve  out  a  sentence  of  ten  years,  and,  with 
the  chance  of  escape  before  him,  it  seemed  singular 
that  he  should  reveal  a  plan  which  promised  to  give 
him  liberty  ;  but  probably  he  feared  a  failure ;  or 


68  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

that  he  might  be  recaptured  and  his  prison  sentence 
increased  ;  while  on  the  other  hand  by  disclosing  the 
plot  he  could  curry  favor  enough  to  get  his  term  re- 
duced, and  perhaps  he  might  gain  a  pardon.  Any 
how,  he  betrayed  us.  The  Deputy  came  in  and 
found  the  stone  in  the  condition  described,  and 
forthwith  we  were  all  removed  to  the  dungeon,  or 
dark  room,  and  kept  there  on  bread  and  water  for 
twelve  days.  We  heard  afterwards  that  our  betrayer 
did  get  five  years  less  than  his  original  sentence  for 
subjecting  his  comrades  in  misery  to  twelve  days  of 
almost  indescribable  suffering.  We  were  not  only 
in  a  totally  dark  and  frightfully  filthy  hole,  but  we 
were  half  starved,  and  the  Deputy  daily  took  delight 
in  taunting  us  with  our  sufferings. 

At  the  end  of  the  twelve  days  we  were  taken  back 
to  the  old  room  where  we  found  the  stone  securely 
fastened  in  with  irons.  Moreover,  we  were  now  un- 
der stricter  observation,  and  at  stated  hours  every 
day,  an  inspector  came  in  and  examined  the  walls. 
This  soon  wore  off,  however,  and  when  the  inspec- 
tion was  finally  abandoned,  about  two  months  from 
the  time  of  our  first  attempt,  we  managed  to  find 
another  place  in  the  old  wall  where  we  could  dig  out 
and  we  went  to  work.     We  were  a  fortnight  at  it, 


I 

SEVEN    PRISONS.  69 

and  had  nearly  completed  our  labor  when  we  were 
discovered. 

This  time  we  spent  fourteen  days  in  the  dungeon 
for  our  pains. 

And  now  comes  an  extraordinary  disclosure  with 
regard  to  my  imprisonment.  A  few  days  after  my 
removal  from  the  dungeon  to  the  old  quarters  again, 
the  Deputy,  in  one  of  his  rare  periods  of  what,  with 
him,  passed  for  good  humor,  informed  me  that  Sarah 
had  been  confined,  and  had  given  birth  to  a  fine  boy ; 
that  she  was  crying  for  my  release  ;  that  Lawyer  Sit- 
greave  was  interceding  for  me  ;  but  that  the  old  man 
Scheimer  was  still  obstinate  and  would  not  let  me 
out.  Passing  over  my  feelings  with  regard  to  the 
birth  of  my  son,  here  was  a  revelation  indeed !  It 
will  be  remembered  that  I  had  only  been  told  that  I 
was  under  indictment  for  bigamy.  I  had  never  been 
brought  before  a  justice  for  a  preliminary  examina- 
tion ;  never  bound  over  for  trial ;  and  now  it  trans- 
pired that  old  Scheimer,  a  Pennsylvania  Dutch 
farmer,  had  the  power  to  put  me  in  jail,  put  me  in 
irons,  and  subject  me  to  long  months,  perhaps  years 
of  imprisonment.  I  had  something  to  occupy  my 
thoughts  now,  and  for  the  remaining  period  of  my 
jail  life. 


70  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

Next  came  a  new  dodge  of  the  Scheimers,  the  ob- 
ject of  which  was  to  show  that  Sarah's  marriage  to 
me  was  no  marriage  at  all,  thus  leaving  her  free  to 
marry  any  other  man  her  family  might  force  upon 
her.  When  I  had  been  in  jail  seven  months,  one 
day  the  Deputy  came  in  and  said  that  he  was  going 
to  take  off  my  irons.  I  told  him  I  wouldn't  trouble 
him  to  do  that,  for  though  I  had  worn  them  when 
he  and  his  subordinates  were  around  till  the  irons 
had  nearly  killed  me,  yet  at  other  times  I  had  been 
in  a  habit  of  taking  them  off  at  pleasure  ;  and  to 
prove  it,  I  sat  down  and  in  a  few  minutes  handed 
him  the  irons.  The  man  was  amazed ;  but  saying 
nothing  about  the  irons,  he  approached  me  on 
another  subject.  He  said  he  thought  if  I  would 
sign  an  acknowledgment  that  I  was  a  married  man 
when  I  married  Sarah  Scheimer,  and  would  leave 
ihe  State  forever,  I  could  get  out  of  jail ;  would  I 
do  it  ?  I  told  him  I  would  give  no  answer  till  I  had 
seen  my  counsel. 

Well,  the  next  day  Lawyer  Sitgreave  came  to  me 
and  told  me  I  had  better  do  it,  and  I  consented. 
Shortly  afterwards,  I  was  taken  to  court,  for  the  first 
time  in  this  whole  affair,  and  was  informed  by  the 
judge  that  if  I  would  sign  a  bond  not  to  go  near  the 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  71 

Scheimer  house  or  family  he  would  discharge  me. 
I  signed  such  a  bond,  and  the  judge  then  told  me  I 
was  discharged ;  but  that  I  ought  to  have  gone  to 
State  prison  for  ten  years  for  destroying  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  the  Scheimer  family.  Truly  the 
Scheimer  family  were  a  power,  indeed,  in  that  part 
of  the  country  ! 

My  lawyer  gave  me  five  dollars  and  I  went  to 
Harmony  and  staid  that  night.  The  next  day  I  went 
to  an  old  friend  of  mine,  a  Methodist  minister,  and 
persuaded  him  to  go  over  and  see  what  Sarah 
Scheimer's  feelings  were  towards  me,  and  if  she  was 
willing  to  come  to  me  with  our  child.  He  went 
over  there,  but  the  old  Scheimers  suspected  his  errand, 
and  watched  him  closely  to  see  that  he  held  no 
communication  with  Sarah.  He  did,  however,  have 
an  opportunity  to  speak  to  her,  and  she  sent  me  word 
that  if  she  could  ever  get  her  money  and  get  away 
from  her  parents,  she  would  certainly  join  me  in 
any  part  of  the  world.  I  was  warned,  at  the  same 
time,  not  to  come  near  the  house,  for  fear  that  her 
father  or  some  of  her  brothers  would  kill  me. 


72  SEVEN -WIVES  AND 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FREE   LIFE   AND    FISHING. 

TAKING    CARE    OF   CRAZY    MEN— CARRYING    OFF    A    BOY— ARRESTED 

FOR    STEALING   MY    OWN    HORSE    AND    BUGGY FISHING    IN    LAKE 

WINNIPI8EOGEE — AN  ODD  LANDLORD — A  WOMAN  AS  BIG  AS  A 
HOGSHEAD REDUCING  THE  HOGSHEAD  TO  A  BARREL — WON- 
DERFUL    VERIFICATION     OF     A     DREAM SUCCESSFUL     MEDICAL 

PRACTICE A  BUSY  WINTER  IN  NEW  HAMPSHIRE — BLANDISH- 
MENTS   OF    CAPTAIN    BKOWN 1    GO    TO    NEWARK,    NEW    JERSEY. 

The  next  day  I  left  Harmony  and  walked  to  Port 
Jarvis,  on  the  Erie  Railroad,  X.  Y.,  arriving  late  at 
night,  and  entirely  footsore,  sick,  and  disheartened. 
I  went  to  the  hotel,  and  the  next  morning  I  found 
myself  seriously  sick.  Asking  advice,  I  was  directed 
to  the  house  of  a  widow,  who  promised  to  nurse  and 
take  care  of  me.  I  was  ill  for  two  weeks,  and  mean- 
time, my  half-sister  in  Delaware  County,  to  whom  I 
made  known  my  condition,  sent  me  money  for  my  ex- 
penses, and  when  I  had  sufficiently  recovered  to 
travel,  I  went  to  this  sister's  house  in  Sidney,  and 
there  I  remained  several  days,  till  I  was  quite  well 
and  strong  again. 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  78 

Casting  about  for  something  to  do,  a  friend  told 
me  that  he  knew  of  an  opportunity  for  a  good  man 
at  Newbury  to  take  care  of  a  young  man,  eighteen 
years  of  age,  who  was  insane.  I  went  there  and 
saw  his  father,  and  he  put  him  under  my  charge. 
I  had  the  care  of  him  four  months,  and  during  the 
last  two  months  of  the  time  I  traveled  about  with 
him,  and  returned  him,  finally,  to  his  friends  in  a 
materially  improved  condition.  The  friends  of  an- 
other insane  man  in  Montgomery,  near  Newbury, 
hearing  of  my  success  with  this  young  man,  sent  for 
me  to  come  and  see  them.  I  went  there  and  found 
a  man  who  had  been  insane  seven  years,  but  who 
was  quiet  and  well-behaved,  only  he  was  "  out  of  his 
head."  I  engaged  to  do  what  I  could  for  him.  The 
father  of  my  Newbury  patient  had  paid  me  well,  and 
with  my  medical  practice  and  the  sale  of  medicines 
in  traveling  about,  I  had  accumulated  several  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  when  I  went  to  Montgomery  I  had 
a  good  horse  and  buggy  which  cost  me  five  hundred 
dollars.  So,  when  my  new  patient  had  been  under 
my  care  and  control  two  months,  I  proposed  that  he 
should  travel  about  with  me  in  my  buggy,  and  visit 
various  parts  of  the  State  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 
His  friends  thought  well  of  the  suggestion,  and  we 


74  SEVEN    WIVES    A*ND 

traveled  in  this  way  about  four  months,  stopping  a 
few  days  here  and  there,  when  I  practiced  where  I 
could,  and  sold  medicines,  making  some  money.  At 
the  end  of.  this  time  I  went  back  to  Montgomery 
with  my  patient,  as  I  think,  fully  restored,  and  his 
father,  besides  paying  the  actual  expenses  of  our 
journey,  gave  me  six  hundred  dollars. 

Returning  to  Sidney  I  learned  that  my  first  and 
worst  wife  was  then  living  with  the  children  at  Una- 
dilla,  a  few  miles  across  the  river  in  Otsego  County. 
I  had  no  desire  to  see  her,  but  I  heard  at  the  same 
time  that  my  youngest  boy,  .a  lad  ten  years  old,  had 
been  sent  to  work  on  a  farm  three  miles  beyond,  and 
that  he  was  not  well  taken  care  of.  I  drove  over  to 
see  about  it,  and  after  some  inquiry  I  was  told  that 
the  boy  was  then  in  school.  Going  to  the  school- 
house  and  asking  for  him,  the  school-mistress,  who 
knew  me,  denied  that  he  was  there,  but  I  pushed  in 
and  found  him,  and  a  ragged,  miserable  looking  lit- 
tle wretch  he  was.  I  brought  him  out,  put  him  into 
the  carriage  and  took  him  with  me  on  the  journey 
which  I  was  then  contemplating  to  Amsterdam, 
N.  Y.,  stopping  at  the  first  town  to  get  him  decently 
clothed.     The  boy  went  with   me  willingly,  indeed 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  10 

he  was  glad  to  go,  and  in  due  time  we  arrived  at 
Amsterdam,  and  from  there  we  went  to  Troy. 

I  had  not  been  in  Troy  two  hours  before  I  was  ar- 
rested for  stealing  my  own  horse  and  buggy !  My 
turnout  was  taken  from  me,  and  I  found  myself  in 
durance  vile.  I  was  not  long  in  procuring  bail,  and 
I  then  set  myself  to  work  to  find  out  what  this 
meant.  I  was  shown  a  handbill  describing  my  per- 
son, giving  my  name,  giving  a  description  of  nly 
horse,  and  offering  a  reward  of  fifty  dollars  for  my 
arrest.  This  was  signed  by  a  certain  Benson,  of 
Kingston,  Sullivan  County,  N.  Y.  I  then  remem- 
bered that  while  I  was  traveling  with  my  insane  pa- 
tient from  Montgomery  through  Sullivan  County,  I 
fell  in  with  a  Benson  who  was  a  very  plausible  fel- 
low, and  who  scraped  acquaintance  with  me,  and 
while  I  was  at  Kingston  he  rode  about  with  me  on 
one  or  two  occasions.  One  day  he  told  me  that  he 
knew  a  girl  just  out  of  the  place  who  was  subject  to 
fits,  and  wanted  to  know  if  I  could  do  anything  for 
her  ;  that  her  father  was  rich,  and  would  pay  a  good 
price  to  have  her  cured.  I  went  to  see  the  girl  and 
did  at  least  enough  to  earn  a  fee  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, which  her  father  gladly  paid  me.  Benson  also 
introduced  me  to  some  other  people  whom  I  found 


76  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

profitable  patients.  I  thought  he  was  a  very  good 
friend  to  me,  but  he  was  a  cool,  calculating  ras- 
cal. He  meant  to  rob  me  of  my  horse  and  buggy, 
and  went  deliberately  to  work  about  it.  First,  he 
issued  the  handbill  which  caused  my  arrest  in  Troy, 
where  he  knew  I  was  going.  Next,  as  appeared 
when  he  came  up  to  Troy  to  prosecute  the  suit  against 
me,  he  forged  a  bill  of  sale.  The  case  was  tried  and 
ctecided  in  my  favor.  Benson  appealed,  and  again  it 
was  decided  that  the  horse  belonged  to  me.  I  then 
had  him  indicted  for  perjury  and  forgery,  and  he  was 
put  under  bonds  of  fourteen  hundred  dollars  in  each 
case  to  appear  for  trial.  Some  how  or  other  he 
never  appeared,  and  whether  he  forfeited  his  bonds, 
or  otherwise  slipped  through  the  "meshes  of  the 
law,"  I  never  learned,  nor  have  lever  seen  him  since 
he  attempted  to  swindle  me.  But  these  proceedings 
kept  me  in  Troy  more  than  a  month,  and  to  pay  my 
lawyer  and  other  expenses,  I  actually  sold  the  horse 
and  buggy  the  scoundrel  tried  to  steal  from  me. 

Taking  my  boy  to  Sidney  and  putting  him  under 
the  care  of  my  half  sister,  I  went  to  Boston,  where 
I  met  two  friends  of  mine  who  were  about  going  to 
Meredith  Bridge,  N.  H.,  to  fish  through  the  ice  on 
Lake  Winnipiseogee.     It  was  early  in  January,  1853, 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  77 

and  good,  clear,  cold  weather.  They  represented  the 
sport  to  be  capital,  and  said  that  plenty  of  superb 
lake  trout  and  pickerel  could  be  taken  every  day,  and 
urged  me  to  go  with  them.  As  I  had  nothing  spe- 
cial to  do  for  a  few  days,  I  went.  When  we  reached 
Meredith  we  stopped  at  a  tavern  near  the  lake,  kept 
by  one  of  the  oddest  landlords  I  have  ever  met. 
After  a  good  supper,  as  we  were  sitting  in  the  bar- 
room, the  landlord  came  up  to  me  and  at  once  opened 
conversation  in  the  following  manner : 

"  Waal,  where  do  you  come  from,  anyhow  ?" 

"  From  Boston,"  I  replied. 

"  Waal,  what  be  you,  anyhow  ?" 

"  Well,  I  practice  medicine,  and  take  care  of  the 
sick." 

"  Dew  ye  ?  Waal,  do  ye  ever  cure  anybody  ?" 

"  0,  sometimes  ;  quite  frequently,  in  fact." 

"  Dew  ye  !  waal,  there's  a  woman  up  here  to  Lake 
Village,  'Squire  Blaisdell's  wife,  who  has  had  the 
dropsy  more'n  twelve  years ;  been  fillin'  all  the 
time  till  they  tell  me  she's  bigger'n  a  hogshead  now, 
and  she's  had  a  hundred  doctors,  and  the  more  doc- 
tors she  has  the  bigger  she  gets ;  what  d'  ye  think 
of  that  now  ?" 

I  answered  that  I  thought  it  was  quite  likely,  and 


78  SEVEN   WIVES    AND 

then  turned  away  from  the  landlord  to  talk  to  my 
friends  about  our  proposed  sport  for  to-morrow,  men- 
tally making  note  of  'Squire  BlaisdelPs  wife  in  Lake 
Village. 

After  breakfast  next  morning  we  went  out  on  the 
lake,  cut  holes  in  the  ice,  set  our  lines,  and  before 
dinner  we  had  taken  several  fine  trout  and  pickerel, 
the  largest  and  finest  of  which  we  put  into  a  box 
with  ice,  and  sent  as  a  present  to  President  Pierce, 
in  Washington.  We  had  agreed,  the  night  before, 
to  fish  for  him  the  first  day,  and  to  send  him  the  best 
specimens  we  could  from  his  native  state.  After 
dinner  my  friends  started  to  go  out  on  the  ice  again, 
and  I  told  them  "  I  guess'd  I  would  n't  go  with  them, 
I  had  fished  enough  for  that  day."  They  insisted  I 
should  go,  but  I  told  them  I  preferred  to  take  a  walk 
and  explore  the  country.  So  they  went  to  the  lake 
and  I  walked  up  to  Lake  Village. 

I  soon  found  Mr.  Blaisdell's  house,  and  as  the  ser- 
vant who  came  to  the  door  informed  me  that  Mr. 
Blaisdell  was  not  at  home,  I  asked  to  see  Mrs.  Blais- 
dell,  and  was  shown  in  to  that  lady.  She  was  not 
quite  the  "  hogshead  "  the  landlord  declared  her  to 
be,  but  she  was  one  of  the  worst  cases  of  dropsy  I 
had  ever  seen.     I  introduced  myself  to  her,  told  her 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  79 

my  profession,  and  that  I  had  called  upon  her  in  the 
hope  of  being  able  to  afford  her  some  relief ;  that  I 
wanted  nothing  for  my  services  unless  I  could  really 
benefrfc  her. 

"  0,  Doctor,"  said  she,  "  you  can  do  nothing  for 
me  ;  in  the  past  twelve  years  I  have  had  at  least 
forty  different  doctors,  and  none  of  them  have  helped 
me." 

"But  there  can  be  no  harm  in  trying  the  forty-first ;" 
and  as  I  said  it  I  took  from  my  vest  pocket  and  held 
out  in  the  palm  of  my  hand  some  pills  : 

"  Here,  madame,  are  some  pills  made  from  a 
simple  blossom,  which  cannot  possibly  harm  you, 
and  which,  I  am  sure,  will  do  you  a  great  deal  of 
good." 

"  0,  Mary  !"  she  exclaimed  to  her  niece,  who  was 
in  attendance  upon  her,  "  this  is  my  dream !  I 
dreamed  last  night  that  my  father  appeared  to  me 
and  told  me  that  a  stranger  would  come  with  a  blos- 
som in  his  hand  ;  that  he  would  offer  it  to  me,  and 
that  if  I  would  take  it  I  should  recover.  Go  and  get 
a  glass  of  water  and  I  will  take  these  pills  at  once." 

"  Surely,"  said  Mary,  "  you  are  not  going  to  take 
this  stranger's  medicine  without  knowing  anything 
about  it,  or  him  ?" 


80  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

"  I  am  indeed  ;  go  and  get  the  water." 

She  took  the  medicine  and  then  told  me  that  her 
father,  who  had  died  \wo  years  ago,  was  a  physician, 
and  had  carefully  attended  to  her  case  as  long  as  he 
lived ;  but  that  she  had  a  will  of  her  own,  and  had  sent 
far  and  near  for  other  doctors,  though  with  no  good 
result. 

"  You  have  come  to  me,"  she  continued,  "  and 
although  I  am  not  superstitious,  your  coming  with  a 
blossom  in  your  hand,  figuratively  speaking,  is  so 
exactly  in  accordance  with  my  dream,  that  I  am 
going  to  put  myself  under  your  care." 

She  then  asked  me  if  I  lived  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  I  told  her  no ;  that  I  had  merely  come  up  from 
Boston  with  two  friends  to  try  a  few  days'  fishing 
through  the  ice  on  the  lake. 

"  You  can  fish  to  better  purpose  here,  I  think," 
she  said  ;  "  you  can  get  plenty  of  practice  in  the  vil- 
lages and  farm  houses  about  here  :  at  any  rate,  stay 
for  the  present  and  undertake  my  case,  and  I  will 
pay  you  liberally." 

I  went  back  to  Meredith  Bridge — I  believe  it  is 
now  called  Laconia — and  had  another  day's  fishing 
with  my  friends.     When  they  were  ready  to  pack  up 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  81 

and  return  to  Boston,  I  astonished  them  by  inform- 
ing them  that  I  should  stay  where  I  was  for  the  pres- 
ent, perhaps  for  months,  and  that  I  believed  I  could 
find  a  good  practice  in  Meredith  and  adjoining  places. 
So  they  left  me  and  I  went  up  to  Lake  Village,  and 
made  that  pleasant  place  my  headquarters. 

The  weeks  wore  on,  and  if  Mrs.  Blaisdell  was  a 
hogshead,  as  the  Meredith  landlord  said,  when  I  first 
saw  her,  she  soon  became  a  barrel  under  my  treat- 
ment, and  in  four  months  she  was  entirely  cured,  and 
was  as  sound  as  any  woman  in  the  State.  I  had  as 
much  other  business  too  as  I  could  attend  to,  and 
was  very  busy  and  happy  all  the  time. 

In  May  I  went  to  Exeter,  alternating  between 
there  and  Portsmouth,  and  finding  enough  to  do  till 
the  end  of  July.  While  I  was  in  Portsmouth  on 
one  of  my  last  visits  to  that  place,  I  received  a  call 
from  a  sea-captain  by  the  name  of  Brown,  who  told 
me  that  he  had  heard  of  my  success  in  dropsical 
cases,  and  that  I  must  go  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  and  see 
his  daughter.  "  Pay,"  he  said,  "  was  no  object ;  I 
must  go."  I  told  him  that  I  had  nearly  finished  my 
business  in  that  vicinity,  and  that  when  I  went  to 
New  York,  as  I  proposed  to  do  shortly,  I  would  go 


82  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

\ 

over  to  Newark  and  see  his  daughter.  A  few  days 
afterward,  when  I  had  settled  my  business  and  col- 
lected my  bills  in  Portsmouth  and  Exeter,  I  went 
to  New  York,  and  from  there  to  Newark. 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  83 


CHAPTER    VII. 

WEDDING  A   WIDOW,   AND   THE  CONSEQUENCES. 

I  MARRY  A  WIDOW — SIX  WEEKS  OF  HAPPINESS — CONFIDING  A  SE- 
CRET AND  THE  CONSEQUENCES THE  WIDOW'S  BROTHER SUD- 
DEN FLIGHT  FROM    NEWARK IN    HARTFORD,  CONN. MY    WIFE'S 

SI8TER  BETRAYS    ME TRIAL    FOR    BIGAMY SENTENCED    TO    TEN 

YEARS'    IMPRISONMENT 1    BECOME    A  "  BOBBIN    BOY  " A    GOOD 

FRIEND GOVERNOR    PRICE    VISITS  ME    IN    PRISON HE  PARDONS 

ME TEN  YEARS'  SENTENCE  FULFILLED  IN  SEVEN  MONTHS. 

"Why  in  the  world  did  Captain  Brown  ever  tempt 
me  with  the  prospect  of  a  profitable  patient  in  New- 
ark ?  I  had  no  thought  of  going  to  that  city,  and 
no  business  there  except  to  see  if  I  could  cure  Cap- 
tain Brown's  daughter.  With  my  matrimonial 
monomania  it  was  like  putting  my  hand  into  the 
fire  to  go  to  a  fresh  place,  where  I  should  see  fresh 
faces,  and  where  fresh  temptations  would  beset  me. 
And  when  I  went  to  Newark,  I  went  only  as  I  sup- 
posed, to  see  a  single  patient ;  but  Captain  Brown 
prevailed  upon  me  to  stay  to  take  care  of  his  daugh- 
ter, and  assured  me  that  he  and  his  friends  would 


84  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

secure   me   a   good   practice.     They   did.     In    two 

months  I  was  doing  as  well  in  my  profession  as  I 

had  ever  done  in  any  place  where  I  had  located.     I 

might  have  attended  strictly  to  my  business,  and  in 

i 
a  few  years  have  acquired  a  handsome  competence. 

But,  as  ill  luck,  which,  strangely  enough,  I  then  con- 
sidered good  luck,  would  have  it,  when  I  had  been 
in  Newark  some  two  months,  I  became  acquainted 
with  a  buxom,  good-looking  widow,  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Roberts.  I  protest  to-day  that  she  courted  me — not 
I  her.  She  was  fair,  fascinating,  and  had  a  goodly 
share  of  property.  I  fell  into  the  snare.  She  said 
she  was  lonely ;  she  sighed ;  she  smiled,  and  I  was 
lost. 

Would  that  I  had  observed  the  elder  Weller's  in- 
junction :  "  Bevare  of  vidders  ;"  would  that  I  had 
never  seen  the  Widow  Roberts,  or  rather  that  she  had 
never  seen  me.  Eight  weeks  after  we  first  met  we 
were  married.  We  had  a  great  wedding  in  her  own 
house,  and  all  her  friends  were  present.  I  was  in 
good  practice  with  as  many  patients  as  I  could  at- 
tend to  ;  she  had  a  good  home  and  we  settled  down 
to  be  very  happy. 

For  six  weeks,  only  six  weeks,  I  think  we  were 
so.     We   might  have   been   so   for  six  weeks,  sis 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  85 

months,  six  years  longer  ;  but  alas !  I  "was  a  fool  ; 
I  confided  to  her  the  secret  of  my  first  marriage, 
and  separation,  and  she  confided  the  same  secret  to 
her  brother,  a  well-to-do  wagon-maker  in  Newark. 

So  far  as  Elizabeth  was  concerned,  she  said  she 
didn't  care ;  so  long  as  the  separation  was  mutual 
and  final,  since  so  many  years  had  elapsed,  and  es- 
pecially since  I  hadn't  seen  the  woman  for  full  six 
years,  and  was  not  supposed  to  know  whether  she 
was  alive  or  dead,  why,  it  was  as  good  as  a  divorce  ; 
so  reasoned  Elizabeth,  and  it  was  precisely  my  own 
reasoning,  and  the  reasoning  which  had  got  me  into 
numberless  difficulties,  to  say  nothing  of  jails  and 
prisons.  But  the  brother  had  his  doubts  about  it, 
and  came  and  talked  to  me  on  the  subject  several 
times.  We  quarrelled  about  it.  He  threatened  to 
have  me  arrested  for  bigamy.  I  told  him  that  if  he 
took  a  step  in  that  direction  I  would  flog  him.  Then 
he  had  me  brought  before  a  justice  for  threatening 
him,  with  a  view  to  having  me  put  under  bonds  to 
keep  the  peace.  I  employed  a  lawyer  who  managed 
my  case  so  well  that  the  justice  concluded  there  was 
no  cause  of  action  against  me. 

But  this  lawyer  informed  me  that  the  brother  was 
putting,  even  then,  another  rod  in  pickle  for  me, 


86  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

and  that  I  had  better  clear  out.  I  took  his  advice* 
I  went  to  the  widow's  house,  packed  my  trunk,  gath- 
ered together  what  money  I  could  readily  lay  hands 
upon,  and  with  about  $300  in  my  pocket,  I  started 
for  New  York,  staying  that  night  at  a  hotel  in  Court- 
land  street. 

The  following  morning  I  went  over  to  Jersey  City, 
hired  a  saddle-horse,  and  rode  to  Newark.  The 
precise  object  of  my  journey  I  do  not  think  I  knew 
myself;  but  I  must  have  had  some  vague  idea  of 
persuading  Elizabeth  to  leave  Newark  and  join  me 
in  New  York  or  elsewhere.  I  confess,  too,  that  I 
was  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  and 
considerably  more  than  less.  However,  no  one 
would  have  noticed  this  in  my  appearance  or  de- 
meanor. I  rode  directly  to  Elizabeth's  door,  hitched 
my  horse,  and  went  into  the  house.  The  moment 
my  wife  saw  me  she  cried  out : 

'.*  For  God's  sake  get  out  of  this  house  and  out  of 
town  as  soon  as  you  can  ;  they  have  been  watching 
for  you  ever  since  yesterday  ;  they've  got  a  warrant 
for  your  arrest ;  don't  stay  here  one  moment." 

I  asked  her  if  she  was  willing  to  follow  me,  and 
she  said  she  would  do  so  if  she  only  dared ;  but  her 
brother  had  made  an  awful  row,  and  had  sworn  he 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  87 

would  put  me  in  prison  anyhow';  I  had  better  go 
back  to  New  York  and  await  events.  I  started  for 
the  door,  and  was  unhitching  my  horse,  when  the 
brother  and  a  half  dozen  more  were  upon  me.  I 
sprang  to  the  saddle.  They  tried  to  stop  me  ;  the 
over-eager  brother  even  caught  me  by  the  foot ;  but 
I  dashed  through  the  crowd  and  rode  like  mad  to 
Jersey  City,  returned  the  horse  to  the  livery  stable, 
crossed  the  ferry  to  New  York,  went  to  my  hotel, 
got  my  trunk,  and  started  for  Hartford,  Conn.,  where 
I  arrived  in  the  evening. 

This  was  in  the  month  of  June,  1854.  I  went  to 
the  old  Exchange  Hotel  in  State  street,  and  very 
soon  acquired  a  good  practice.  Indeed,  it  seems 
as  if  I  was  always  successful  enough  in  my  medical 
business — my  mishaps  have  been  in  the  matrimonial 
line.  When  I  had  been  in  Hartford  about  three 
months,  and  was  well  settled,  I  thought  I  would  go 
down  to  New  York  and  see  a  married  sister  of  Eliz- 
abeth's, who  was  living  there,  and  try  to  find  out 
how  matters  were  going  on  over  in  Newark.  That 
I  found  out  fully,  if  not  exactly  to  my  satisfaction, 
will  appear  anon. 

When  I  called  at  the  sister's  house,  the  servant 
told  me  she  was  out,  but  would  be  back  in  an  hour  ; 


88  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

so  I  left  my  name,  promising  to  call  again.  I  re- 
turned again  at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
the  sister  was  in,  but  declined  to  see  me.  As  I  was 
coming  down  the  steps,  a  policeman  who  seemed  to 
be  lounging  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  beck- 
oned to  me,  and  suspecting  nothing,  I  crossed  over 
to  see  what  he  wanted.  He  simply  wanted  to  know 
my  name,  and  when  I  gave  it  to  him  he  informed 
me  that  I  was  his  prisoner.  I  asked  for  what  ?  and 
he  said  "  as  a  fugitive  from  justice  in  Nev  Jersey." 

This  was  for  taking  the  pains  to  come  down  from 
Hartford  to  inquire  after  the  welfare  of  my  wife  ! 
whose  sister,  the  moment  the  servant  told  her  I  had 
been  there,  and  would  call  again,  had  gone  to  the 
nearest  police  station  and  given  information,  or 
made  statements,  which  led  to  the  setting  of  this 
latest  trap  for  me.  The  policeman  took  me  before 
a  justice  who  sent  me  to  the  Tombs.  On  my  arrival 
there  I  managed  to  pick  up  a  lawyer,  or  rather  one  of 
the  sharks  of  the  place  picked  me  up,  and  said  that 
for  twenty-five  dollars  he  would  get  me  clear  in  three 
or  four  hours.  I  gave  him  the  money,  and  from 
that  day  till  now,  I  have  never  set  eyes  upon  him. 
I  lay  in  a  cell  all  night,  and  next  morning  Elizabeth's 
brother,  to  whom  the  sister  in  New  York  had  sent 


SEVEN   PfclSONS.  89 

word  that  I  was  caged,  came  over  from  Newark  to 
see  me.  He  said  he  felt  sorry  for  me,  but  that 
he  was  "  bound  to  put  me  through."  He  then  asked 
me  if  I  would  go  over  to  Newark  without  a  requisi- 
tion from  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  I  told 
him  I  would  not ;  whereupon  he  went  away  without 
saying  another  word,  and  I  waited  all  day  to  hear 
from  the  lawyer  to  whom  I  had  given  twenty-five 
dollars,  but  he  did  not  come. 

So  next  day  when  the  brother  came  over  and 
asked  me  the  same  question,  I  said  I  would  go ; 
wherein  I  was  a  fool ;  for  I  ought  to  have  reflected 
that  he  had  had  twenty-four  hours  in  which  to  get  a 
requisition,  and  that  he  might  in  fact  have  made  ap- 
plication for  one  already,  without  getting  it,  and 
every  delay  favored  my  chances  of  getting  out. 
But  I  had  no  one  to  advise  me,  and  so  I  went  quietly 
with  him  and  an  officer  to  the  ferry,  where  we 
crossed  and  went  by  cars  to  Newark.  I  was,  at  once 
taken  before  a  justice,  who,  after  a  hearing  of  the 
case,  bound  me  over,  under  bonds  of  only  one  thou- 
sand dollars,  to  take  my  trial  for  bigamy. 

If  I  could  have  gone  into  the  street  I  could  have 
procured  this  comparatively  trifling  bail  in  half  an 
hour  ;  as  it  was,  after  I  was  in  jail  I  sent  for  a  man 


90  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

whom  I  knew,  and  gave  him  my  gold  watch  and  one 
hundred  dollars,  all  the  money  I  had,  to  procure  me 
bail,  which  he  promised  to  do ;  but  he  never  did  a 
thing  for  me,  except  to  rob  me. 

A  lawyer  came  to  me  and  offered  to  take  my  case 
in  hand  for  one  hundred  dollars,  but  I  had  not  the 
money  to  give  him.  I  then  sent  to  New  York  for 
a  lawyer  whom  I  knew,  and  when  he  came  to  see 
me  he  took  the  same  view  of  the  case  that  Elizabeth 
and  I  did ;  that  is,  that  the  long  separation  between 
my  first  wife  and  myself,  and  my  presumed  ignor- 
ance as  to  whether  she  was  alive  or  dead,  gave  me 
full  liberty  to  marry  again.  At  least,  he  thought 
any  court  would  consider  it  an  extenuating  circum- 
stance, and  he  promised  to  be  present  at  my  trial 
and  aid  me  all  he  could. 

I  lay  in  Newark  jail  nine  months,  awaiting  my 
trial.  During  that  time  I  had  almost  daily  quarrels 
with  the  jailor,  who  abused  me  shamefully,  and  told 
me  I  ought  to  go  to  State  prison  and  stay  there  for 
life.  Once  he  took  hold  of  me  and  I  struck  him, 
for  which  I  was  put  in  the  dark  cell  forty-eight  hours. 
At  last  came  my  trial.  The  court  appointed  coun- 
sel for  me,  for  I  had  no  money  to  fee  a  lawyer,  and 
my  NeW  York  friend  was  on  hand  to  advise  and  as- 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  91 

sist.  I  had  witnesses  to  show  the  length  of  time 
that  had  elapsed  since  my  separation  from  my  first 
wife,  and  we  also  raised  the  point  as  to  whether  the 
justice  who  married  me,  was  really  a  legal  justice 
of  the  peace  or  not.  The  trial  occupied  two  days. 
I  suppose  all  prisoners  think  so,  but  the  Judge 
charged  against  me  in  every  point ;  the  jury  was  out 
two  hours,  and  then  came  in  for  advice  on  a  doubt- 
ful question ;  the  judge  gave  them  another  blast 
against  me,  and  an  hour  after  they  came  in  with  a  ver 
diet  of  "  guilty."  I  went  back  to  jail  and  two  days 
afterwards  was  brought  up  for  sentence  which  was — 
"  ten  years  at  hard  labor  in  the  State  prison  at 
Trenton." 

Good  heavens !  All  this  for  being  courted  and 
won  by  a  widow ! 

The  day  following,  I  was  taken  in  irons  to  Tren- 
ton. The  Warden  of  the  prison,  who  wanted  to 
console  me,  said  that,  for  the  offence,  my  sentence 
was  an  awful  one,  and  that  he  didn't  believe  I  would 
be  obliged  to  serve  out  half  of  it.  As  I  felt  then,  I 
did  not  believe  I  should  live  out  one-third  of  it.  Af- 
ter I  had  gone  through  the  routine  of  questions,  and 
had  been  put  in  the  prison  uniform,  a  cap  was  drawn 
down  over  my  face,  as  if  I  was  about  to  be  hung, 


92  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

and  I  was  led,  thus  blind-folded,  around  and  around, 
evidently  to  confuse  me,  with  regard  to  the  interior 
of  the  prison — in  case  I  might  ever  have  any  idea 
of  breaking  out.  At  last  I  was  brought  to  a  cell 
door  and  the  cap  was  taken  off.  There  were,  prop- 
erly no  "  cells  "  in  this  prison — at  least  I  never  saw 
any ;  but  good  sized  rooms  for  two  prisoners,  not 
only  to  live  in  but  to  work  in.  I  found  myself  in  a 
room  with  a  man  who  was  weaving  carpets,  and  I 
was  at  once  instructed  in  the  art  of  winding  yarn 
on  bobbins  for  him — in  fact,  I  was  to  be  his  "  bobbin- 
boy." 

I  pursued  this  monotonous  occupation  for  two 
months,  when  I  told  the  keeper  I  did  not  like  that 
business,  and  wanted  to  try  something  that  had  a 
little  more  variety  in  it.  Whereupon  he  put  me  at 
the  cane  chair  bottoming  business,  which  gave  me 
another  room  and  another  chum,  and  I  remained  at 
this  work  while  I  was  in  the  prison.  In  three  weeks 
I  could  bottom  one  chair,  while  my  mate  was  bot- 
toming nine  or  ten  as  his  day's  work ;  but  I  told  the 
keeper  I  did  not  mean  to  work  hard,  or  work  at  all, 
if  I  could  help  it.  He  was  a  very  nice  fellow  and 
he  only  laughed  and  let  me  do  as  I  pleased.  Indeed, 
I  could  not  complain  of  my  treatment  in  any  re- 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  93 

spect ;  I  had  a  good  clean  room,  good  bed,  and  the 
fare  was  wholesome  and  abundant.  But  then,  there 
was  that  terrible,  terrible  sentence  of  ten  long  years 
of  this  kind  of  life,  if  I  should  live  through  it. 

After  I  had  been  in  prison  nearly  seven  months, 
one  day  a  merchant  tailor  whom  I  well  knew  in 
Newark,  and  who  made  my  clothes,  including  my 
wedding  suit  when  I  married  the  Widow  Roberts, 
came  to  see  me.  The  legislature  was  in  session  and 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Senate.  He  knew  all  the 
circumstances  of  my  case,  and  was  present  at  my 
trial.  After  the  first  salutation,  he  laughingly 
said: 

"  Well,  Doctor,  those  are  not  quite  as  nice  clothes 
as  I  used  to  furnish  you  with." 

"  No,"  I  replied,  "  but  perhaps  they  are  more 
durable." 

After  some  other  chaff  and  chat,  he  made  me  tell 
him  all  about  my  first  marriage  and  subsequent  sep- 
aration, and  after  talking  awhile  he  went  away, 
promising  to  see  me  soon.  I  looked  upon  this  only 
as  a  friendly  visit,  for  which  I  was  grateful ;  and  at- 
tached no  great  importance  to  it.  But  he  came 
again  in  a  few  days,  and  after  some  general  conver- 
sation, he  told  me  that  there  was  a  movement  on 


94  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

foot  in  my  favor,  which  might  bring  the  best  of  news 
to  me  ;  that  he  had  not  only  talked  wifh  his  friends 
in  the  legislature,  and  enlisted  their  sympathy  and 
assistance,  but  he  had  laid  the  whole  circumstances, 
from  beginning  to  end,  before  Governor  Price  ;  that 
the  Governor  would  visit  the  prison  shortly,  and 
then  I  must  do  my  best  in  pleading  my  own  cause. 

In  a  day  or  two  the  Governor  came,  and  I  had  an 
opportunity  to  relate  my  story.  I  told  him  all  about 
my  first  unfortunate  marriage,  and  the  separation. 
He  said  that  he  knew  the  facts,  and  also  that  he  had 
lately  received  a  letter  from  my  oldest  son  on  the 
subject,  and  had  read  it  with  great  interest-  I  then 
appealed  to  the  Governor  for  his  clemency ;  my  sen- 
tence was  an  outrageously  severe  one,  and  seemed 
almost  prompted  by  private  malice ;  I  implored  him 
to  pardon  me ;  I  went  down  on  my  knees  before  him, 
and  asked  his  mercy.  He  told  me  to  be  encouraged ; 
that  he  would  be  in  the  prison  again  in  a  few  days, 
and  he  would  see  me.     He  then  went  away. 

I  at  once  drew  up  a  petition  which  my  friend  in 
the  Senate  circulated  in  the  legislature  for  signa- 
tures, and  afterwards  sent  it  to  Newark,  securing 
some  of  the  best  names  in  that  city.  It  was  then 
returned  to  me,  and  two  weeks  afterwards  when  the 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  95 

Governor  came  again  to  the  prison  I  presented  it  to 
him,  and  he  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

In  two  days'  time,  Governor  Price  sent  my  par- 
don into  the  prison.  The  Warden  came  and  told 
me  of  it,  and  said  he  would  let  me  out  in  an  hour. 
Then  came  a  keeper  who  once  more  put  the  cap 
over  my  face  and  led  me  around  the  interior — I  was 
willingly  led  now — till  he  brought  me  to  a  room 
where  he  gave  me  my  own  clothes  which  I  put  on, 
and  with  a  kind  parting  word,  and  five  dollars  from 
the  Warden,  I  was  soon  in  the  street,  once  more  a 
free  man.  My  sentence  of  ten  years  had  been  ful- 
filled by  an  imprisonment  of  exactly  seven  months. 

I  went  and  called  on  Governor  Price  to  thank  him 
for  his  great  goodness  towards  me.  He  received  me 
kindly,  talked  to  me  for  some  time,  and  gave  me 
some  good  advice  and  a  little  money.  With  this 
and  the  five  dollars  I  received  from  the  Warden  of 
the  prison  I  started  for  New  York. 


96  SEVEN   WIVES  AND 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ON  THE  KEEN  SCENT. 

GOOD   RESOLUTIONS — ENJOYING    FREEDOM — GOING    AFTER  A   CRA- 
ZY   MAN THE    OLD    TEMPTER    IN    A   NEW    FORM MARY     GORDON 

MY    NEW     "COUSIN" — ENGAGED     AGAIN VISIT     TO     THE     OLD 

FOLKS    AT    HOME ANOTHER     MARRIAGE STARTING    FOR   OHIO  — 

CHANGE      OF     PLANS DOMESTIC      QUARRELS — UNPLEASANT      STO- 
RIES    ABOUT     MARY — BOUND     OVER     TO     KEEP    THE    PEACE AN. 

OTHER   ARREST     FOR     BIGAMY A      SUDDEN      FLIGHT — SECRETED 

THREE    WEEKS    IN     A     FARM     HOUSE RECAPTURED    AT    CONCORD 

— ESCAPED     ONCE     MORE — TRAVELING    ON     THE    UNDERGROUND 
RAILROAD IN    CANADA. 

It  would  seem  as  if,  by  this  time,  I  had  had  enough 
of  miscellaneous  marrying  and  the  imprisonment  that 
almost  invariably  followed.  I  had  told  Governor 
Price,  when  I  first  implored  him  for  pardon,  that  if 
he  would  release  me  I  would  begin  a  new  life,  and 
endeavor  to  be  in  all  respects  a  better  man.  I  hon- 
estly meant  to  make  every  effort  to  be  so,  and  on 
my  way  to  New  York  I  made  numberless  vows  for 
my  own  future  good  behavior.  I  bound  myself  over, 
as  it  were,  to  keep  the  peace — my  own  peace  and 
quiet  especially — and  became  my  own  surety.  That 
1  could  not  have  had  a  poorer  bondsman,  subsequent 


SEVEN   PRISONS.     '  97 

events  proved  to  my  sorrow.  But  I  started  fairly, 
and  meant  to  let  liquor  alone  ;  to  attend  strictly  to 
my  medical  business,  which  I  always  managed  to 
make  profitable,  and  above  all,  to  have  nothing  to 
do  with  women  in  the  love-making  or  matrimonial 
way. 

With  these  good  resolutions  I  arrived  in  New  York 
and  went  to  my  old  hotel  in  Courtlandt  Street,  where 
I  was  well  known  and  was  well  received.  My  trunk, 
which  I  had  left  there  sixteen  months  before,  was 
safe,  and  I  had  a  good  suit  of  clothes  on  my  back — 
the  clothes  I  took  off  when  I  went  to  prison  in  Tren- 
ton— and  which  were  returned  to  me  when  I,  came 
away.  I  went  to  a  friend  who  loaned  me  some  mon- 
ey, and  I  remained  two  or  three  days  in  town  to  try 
my  new-found  freedom,  going  about  the  city,  visiting 
places  of  amusement,  enjoying  myself  very  much, 
and  keeping,  so  far,  the  good  resolutions  I  had 
formed. 

From  New  York  I  went  to  Troy,  and  at  the  hotel 
where  I  stopped  I  became  acquainted  with  a  woman 
who  told  me  that  her  husband  was  in  the  Insane 
Asylum  at  Brattleboro,  Vt.  She  was  going  to  see 
him,  and  if  he  was  fit  to  be  removed,  she  proposed 
to  take  him  home  with  her.     I  told  her  of  the  sue- 


98  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

cess  I  had  had  in  taking  care  of  two  men  at  New- 
bury and  Montgomery  ;  and  how  I  had  traveled  about 
the  country  with  them,  and  with  the  most  beneficial 
results  to  my  patients.  She  was  much  interested, 
inquired  into  the  particulars,  and  finally  thought 
the  plan  would  be  a  favorable  one  for  her  husband. 
She  asked  me  to  go  with  her  to  see  him,  and  said 
that  if  he  was  in  condition  to  travel  he  should  go 
about  wTith  me  if  he  would  ;  at  any  rate,  if  he  came 
out  of  the  Asylum  she  would  put  him  under  my  care. 
We  went  together  to  Brattleboro,  and  the  very  day 
we  arrived  her  husband  was  taken  in  an  apoplectic 
fit  from  which  he  did  not  recover.  She  carried  home 
his  corpse,  and  I  lost  my  expected  patient. 

But  I  must  have  something  to  do  for  my  daily  sup- 
port, and  so  I  went  to  work  and  very  soon  sold  some 
medicines  and  recipes,  and  secured  a  few  patients. 
I  also  visited  the  adjoining  villages,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  I  had  a  very  good  practice.  I  might  have 
lived  here  quietly  and  made  money.  Nobody  knew 
anything  of  my  former  history,  my  marriages  or  my 
misfortunes,  and  I  was  doing  well,  with  a  daily  in- 
creasing business.  And  so  I  went  on  for  nearly  three 
months,  gaining  new  acquaintances,  and  extending 
my  practice  every  day. 


•   SEVEN  PRISONS.  99 

Then  came  the  old  tempter  in  a  new  form,  and 
my  matrimonial  monomania,  which  I  hoped  was 
cured  forever,  broke  out  afresh.  One  day,  at 
the  public  house  where  I  lived,  I  saw  a  fine  girl 
from  New  Hampshire,  with  whom  I  became  ac- 
quainted— so  easily,  so  far  as  she  was  concerned — 
that  I  ought  to  have  been  warned  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  her ;  but,  as  usual,  in  such  cases,  my 
common  sense  left  me,  and  I  was  infatuated  enough 
to  fancy  that  I  was  in  love. 

Mary  Gordon  was  the  daughter  of  a  farmer  living 
near  Keene,  N.  H.,  and  was  a  handsome  girl  about 
twenty  years  of  age.  She  was  going,  she  told  me, 
to  visit  some  friends  in  Bennington,  and  would  be 
there  about  a  month,  during  which  time,  if  I  was  in 
that  vicinity,  she  hoped  I  would  come  and  see  her. 
We  parted  very  lovingly,  and  when  she  had  been  in 
Bennington  a  few  days  she  wrote  to  me,  setting  a 
time  for  me  to  visit  her ;  but  my  business  in  Brat- 
tleboro  was  too  good  to  leave,  and  I  so  wrote  to  her. 
Whereupon,  in  another  week,  she  came  back  to  Brat- 
tleboro  and  proposed  to  finish  the  remainder  of  her 
visit  there,  thus  blinding  her  friends  at  home  who 
would  think  she  was  all  the  while  at  Bennington. 

Our  brief  acquaintance  when  she  was  at  the  house 


100  SEVEN  WIVES  AND 

before,  attracted  no  particular  attention,  and  when 
she  came  now  I  told  the  landlord  that  she  was  my 
cousin,  and  he  gave  her  a  room  and  I  paid  her  bills. 
The  cousin  business  was  a  full  cover  to  our  intimacy  ; 
she  sat  next  to  me  at  the  table,  rode  about  with  me 
to  see  my  patients,  and  when  I  went  to  places  near 
by  to  sell  medicine,  and  we  were  almost  constantly 
together.  Of  course,  we  were  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried, and  that  very  soon. 

In  a  fortnight  after  her  arrival  I  went  home  with 
her  to  her  father's  farm  near  Keene,  and  she  told  her 
mother  that  we  were  "engaged."  The  old  folks 
thought  they  would  like  to  know  me  a  little  better, 
but  she  said  we  were  old  friends,  she  knew  me  thor- 
oughly, and  meant  to  marry  me.  There  was  no 
further  objection  on  the  part  of  her  parents,  and  in 
the  few  days  following  she  and  her  mother  were  busi- 
ly engaged  in  preparing  her  clothes  and  outfit. 

I  then  announced  my  intention  of  returning  to 
Brattleboro  to  settle  up  my  business  in  that  place, 
and  she  declared  she  would  go  with  me ;  I  was 
sure  to  be  lonesome ;  she  might  help  me  about  my 
bills,  and  so  on.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  her  pa- 
rents made  no  objection  to  her  going,  though  I 
was  to  be  absent  a    fortnight,  and   was  not  to  be 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  101 

married  till  I  came  back.  So  we  went  together, 
and  I  and  my  "cousin"  put  up  at  the  hotel  we 
had  lately  left.  For  two  weeks  I  was  busy  in  mak- 
ing my  final  visits  to  my  patients  and  acquaint 
ances,  she  generally  going  with  me  every  day. 

At  the  end  of  that  time  we  went  back  to  Keene, 
and  in  three  weeks  we  were  married  in  her  father's 
house,  the  old  folks  making  a  great  wedding  for  us, 
which  was  attended  by  all  the  neighbors  and  friends 
of  the  family.  We  stayed  at  home  two  weeks,  and 
meanwhile  arranged  our  plans  for  the  future.  We 
proposed  to  go  out  to  Ohio,  where  she  had  some  rel- 
atives, and  settle  down.  She  had  seven  hundred 
dollars  in  bank  in  Keene  which  she  drew,  and  we 
started  on  our  journey.  We  went  to  Troy,  where  we 
stayed  a  few  days,  and  during  that  time  we  both  con- 
cluded that  we  would  not  go  West,  but  return  to 
Keene  and  live  in  the  town  instead  of  on  the  farm, 
so  that  I  could  open  an  office  and  practice  there. 

So  we  went  back  to  her  home  again,  but  before  I 
completed  my  plans  for  settling  down  in  Keene,  Ma- 
ry and  I  had  several  quarrels  which  were  worse  than 
mere  ordinary  matrimonial  squabbles.  Two  or  three 
young  men  in  Keene,  with  whom  1  had  become  ac- 
quainted, twitted  me  with  marrying  Mary,  and  told 


102  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

me  enough  about  her  to  convince  me  that  her  former 
life  had  not  been  altogether  what  it  should  have  been. 
I  had  been  too  blinded  by  her  beauty  when  I  first 
saw  her  in  Brattleboro,  to  notice  how  extremely 
easily  she  was  won.  Her  parents,  too,  were  wonder- 
'fully  willing,  if  not  eager,  to  marry  her  to  me.  All 
these  things  came  to  me  now,  and  we  had  some  very 
lively  conversations  on  the  subject,  in  which  the  old 
folks  joined,  siding  with  their  daughter  of  course. 
By  and  by  the  girl  went  to  Keene  and  made  a  com- 
plaint that  she  was  afraid  of  her  life,  and  I  was 
'  brought  before  a  magistrate  and  put  under  bonds  of 
four  hundred  dollars  to  keep  the  peace.  I  gave  a 
man  fifty  dollars  to  go  bail  for  me,  and  then,  instead 
of  going  out  to  the  farm  with  Mary,  I  went  to  the 
hotel  in  Keene. 

The  well-known  character  of  the  girl ,  my  marriage  to 
her,  the  brief  honeymoon,  the  quarrels  and  the  cause 
of  the  same,  were  all  too  tempting  material  not  to 
be  served  up  in  a  paragraph,  and  as  I  expected  and 
feared,  out  came  the  whole  story  in  the  Keene 
paper. 

This  was  copied  in  other  journals,  and  presently 
came  letters  to  the  family  and  to  other  persons  in 
the  place,  giving  some  account  of  my  former  adven- 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  103 

tures  and  marriages.  Of  this  however  I  knew  nothing, 
till  one  day,  while  I  was  at  the  hotel,  I  was  suddenly 
arrested  for  bigamy.  But  I  was  used  to  this  kind  of 
arrest  by  this  time,  and  I  went  before  the  magistrate 
with  my  mind  made  up  that  I  must  suffer  again  for 
my  matrimonial  monomania.     • 

It  was  just  after  dinner  when  I  was  arrested,  and 
the  examination,  which  was  a  long  one,  continued 
till  evening.  Every  one  in  the  magistrate's  office 
was  tired  out  with  it,  I  especially,  and  so  I  took  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  leave  the  premises.  I  bolted 
for  the  door,  ran  down  stairs  into  the  street,  and  was 
well  out  of  town  before  the  astonished  magistrate, 
stunned  constable,  and  amazed  spectators  realized 
that  I  had  gone.  l 

Whether  they  then  set  out  in  pursuit  of  me  I  never 
knew,  I  only  know  they  did  not  catch  me.  I  ran 
till  I  came  to  the  house  of  a  farmer  whom  I  had  been 
attending  for  some  ailment,  and  hurriedly  narrating 
the  situation,  I  offered  him  one  hundred  dollars  if 
he  would  secrete  me  till  the  hue  and  cry  was  over 
and  I  could  safely  get  away.  I  think  he  would  have 
done  it  from  good  will,  but  the  hundred  dollar  bill  I 
offered  him  made  the  matter  sure.  He  put  my 
money  into  his  pocket,  and  he  put  me  into  a  dark 


104  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

closet,  not  more  than  five  feet  square,  and  locked 
me  in. 

I  stayed  in  that  man's  house,  never  going  out  of 
doors,  for  more  than  three  weeks,  and  did  my  best 
to  board  out  my  hundred  dollars.  The  day  after  my 
flight  the  whole  neighborhood  was  searched,  that  is, 
the  woods,  roads,  and  adjacent  villages.  They  never 
thought  of  looking  in  a  house,  particularly  in  a 
house  so  .near  the  town ;  and,  as  I  heard  from  my 
protector,  they  telegraphed  and  advertised  far  and 
near  for  me. 

I  anticipated  all  this,  and  for  this  very  reason  I 
remained  quietly  where  I  was,  in  an  unsuspected 
house,  and  with  my  dark  closet  to  retire  to  whenever 
any  one  came  in ;  and  gossiping  neighbors  coming 
in  almost  every  hour,  kept  me  in  that  hole  nearly 
half  the  time.  I  heard  my  own  story  told  in  that 
house  at  least  fifty  times,  and  in  fifty  different  ways. 

At  last,  when  I  thought  it  was  safe,  one  night  my 
host  harnessed  up  his  horses  and  carried  me  some 
miles  on  my  way  to  Concord.  He  drove  as  far  as 
he  dared,  for  he  wanted  to  get  back  home  by  day- 
light, so  that  his  expedition  might  excite  no  sus- 
picion. Twenty  miles  away  from  Keene  he  set  me 
down  in  the  road,  and,  bidding  him  "good-bye,"  I 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  105 

began  my  march  toward  Concord.  When  I  arrived 
there,  almost  the  first  man  I  saw  in  the  street  was 
a  doctor  from  Keene.  I  did  not  think  he  saw  me, 
but  he  did,  as  I  soon  found  out,  for  while  I  was 
waiting  at  the  depot  to  take  the  cars  to  the  north,  I 
was  arrested. 

The  Keene  doctor  owed  me  a  grudge  for  interfer- 
ing, as  he  deemed  it,  with  his  regular  practice,  and 
the  moment  he  saw  me  he  put  an  officer  on  my  trail. 
I  thought  it  was  safe  here  to  take  the  cars,  for  I  was 
footsore  and  weary,  nor  did  I  get  away  from  Keene 
as  fast  and  as  far  as  I  wanted  to.  I  should  have 
succeeded  but  for  that  doctor. 

When  the  officer  brought  me  before  a  justice,  the 
doctor  was  a  willing  witness  to  declare  that  I  was  a 
fugitive  from  justice,  and  he  stated  the  circumstances 
of  my  escape.  So  I  was  sent  back  to  Keene  under 
charge  of  the  very  officer  who  arrested  me  at  the 
depot. 

I  would  not  give  this  officer's  name  if  I  could  re- 
member it,  but  he  was  a  fine  fellow,  and  was  exceed- 
ingly impressible.  For  instance,  on  our  arrival  at 
Keene,  he  allowed  me  to  go  to  the  hotel  and  pack 
my  trunk  to  be  forwarded  to  Meredith  Bridge  by  ex- 
press.    He  then  handed  me  over  to  the  authorities, 


106  SEVEN    WIVES   AND 

and  I  was  immediately  taken  before  the  magistrate 
from  whom  I  had  previously  escaped,  the  Concord 
officer  accompanying  the  Keene  officer  who  had 
charge  of  me. 

The  examination  was  short ;  I  was  bound  over  in 
the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  to  take  my  trial  for 
bigamy.  On  my  way  to  jail  I  persuaded  the  Concord 
officer — with  a  hundred  dollar  bill  which  I  slipped 
into  his  hand — to  induce  the  other  officer  to  go  with 
me  to  the  hotel  under  pretense  of  looking  after  my 
things,  and  getting  what  would  be  necessary  for  my 
comfort  in  jail.  My  Concord  friend  kept  the 
other  officer  down  stairs — in  the  bar-room,  I  pre- 
sume— while  I  went  to  my  room.  I  put  a  single 
shirt  in  my  pocket ;  the  distance  from  my  window 
to  the  ground  was  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet,  and  I  let  myself  down  from  the  window  sill 
and  then  dropped. 

I  was  out  of  the  yard,  into  the  street,  and  out  of 
town  in  less  than  no  time.  It  was  already  evening, 
and  everything  favored  my  escape.  I  had  no  idea  of 
spending  months  in  jail  at  Keene,  and  months  more, 
perhaps  years,  in  the  New  Hampshire  State  Prison. 
All  my  past  bitter  experiences  of  wretched  prison- 
life  urged  me  to  flight. 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  107 

And  fly  I  did.  No  stopping  at  the  friendly  far- 
mer's, my  former  refuge,  this  time ;  that  would  be 
too  great  a  risk.  No  showing  of  myself  in  any  town 
or  viilege  where  the  telegraph  might  have  conveyed 
a  description  of  my  person.  I  traveled  night  and 
day  on  foot,  and  more  at  night  than  during  the  day, 
taking  by-roads,  lying  by  in  the  woods,  sleeping 
in  barns,  and  getting  my  meals  in  out-of-the-way 
farm  houses. 

I  had  plenty  of  money  ;  but  this  kind  of  traveling- 
is  inexpensive,  and,  paying  twenty-five  cents  for  one 
or  two  meals  a  day,  as  I  dared  to  get  them,  and 
sleeping  in  barns  or  under  haystacks  for  nothing,  my 
purse  did  not  materially  diminish.  I  was  a  good 
walker,  and  in  the  course  of  a  week  from  the  night 
when  I  left  Keene,  I  found  myself  in  Biddeford, 
Maine. 

There  was  some  sense  of  security  in  being  in  an- 
other State,  and  here  I  ventured  to  take  the  ears  for 
Portland,  where  I  staid  two  days,  sending  in  the 
meantime  for  my  trunk  from  Meredith  Bridge,  and 
getting  it  by  express.  Of  course  it  went  to  a  ficti- 
tious address  at  Meredith,  and  it  came  to  me  under 
the  same  name  which  I  had  registered  in  my  hotel 
at  Portland. 


108  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

I  did  not  mean  to  stay  there  long.  My  departure 
was  hastened  by  the  advice  of  a  man  who  knew  me, 
and  told  me  he  also  knew  my  New  Hampshire  scrape, 
and  that  I  had  better  leave  Portland  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. Half  an  hour  after  this  good  advice  I  was  on 
my  way  by  cars  to  Canada.  In  Canada  I  stayed  in 
different  small  towns  near  the  border,  and  "  kept 
moving,"  till  I  thought  the  New  Hampshire  matter 
had  blown  over  a  little,  or  at  least  till  they  had  given 
me  up  as  a  "  gone  case,"  and  I  then  reappeared  in 
Troy. 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  109 


CHAPTER    IX. 

MARRYING    TWO    MILLINERS. 

BACK  IN    VERMONT FRESH  TEMPTATIONS MARGARET    BRADLEY 

WINE     AND    WOMEN A    MOCK     31ARRIAGE    IN  TROY — ;THE    FALSE 

CERTIFICATE — MEDICINE  AND  MILLINERY — ELIZA  GURNSEY — A 
SPREE  AT  SARATOGA — MARRYING  ANOTHER  MILLINER AGAIN  AR- 
RESTED    FOR    BIGAMY IN     JAIL     ELEVEN     MONTHS — A    TEDIOUS 

TRIAL — FOUND    GUILTY APPEAL     TO     SUPREME    COURT — TRYING 

TO  BREAK  OUT  OF  JAIL A  GOVERNOR'S  PROMISE SECOND  TRIAL 

— SENTENCE  TO    THREE  YEARS'  IMPRISONMENT. 

From  Troy  I  went,  first  to  Ncwburyport,  Mass., 
whore  I  had  some  business,  and  where  I  remained  a 
week,  and  then  returned  to  Troy  again.  Next  I 
went  to  Bennington,  Vt.,  to  sell  medicines  and  prac- 
tice, and  I  found  enough  to  occupy  me  there  for  full 
two  months.  From  Bennington  to  Rutland,  selling 
medicines  on  the  way,  and  at  Rutland  I  intended  to 
stay  for  some  time.  My  oldest  son  was  there  well 
established  in  tfce  medical  business,  and  I  thought 
that  both  of  us  together  might  extend  a  wide  practice 
and  make  a  great  deal  of  money. 


110  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

No  doubt  we  might  have  done  so,  if  I  had  minded 
my  medical  business  only,  and  had  let  matrimonial 
matters  alone.  1  had  just  got  rid  of  a  worthless 
woman  in  New  Hampshire  with  a  very  narrow  es- 
cape from  State  prison.  But,  as  my  readers  know 
by  this  time,  all  experience,  even  the  bitterest,  was 
utterly  thrown  away  upon  me  ;  I  seemed  to  get  out 
of  one  scrape  only  to  walk,  with  my  eyes  open, 
straight  into  another. 

At  the  hotel  where  I  went  to  board,  there  was 
temporarily  staying  a  woman,  about  thirty-two  years 
old,  Margaret  Bradly,  by  name,  who  kept  a  large 
millinery  establishment  in  town.  I  became  acquaint- 
ed with  her,  and  she  told  me  that  she  owned  a 
house  in  the  place,  in  which  she  and  her  mother 
lived ;  but  her  mother  had  gone  away  on  a  visit,  and 
as  she  did  not  like  to  live  alone  she  had  come  to  the 
hotel  to  stay  for  a  few  days  till  her  mother  returned. 
Margaret  was  a  fascinating  woman  ;  she  knew  it, 
and  it  was  my  miserable  fate  to  become  intimate, 
altogether  too  intimate  with  this  designing  milliner. 

I  went  to  her  store  every  day,  sometimes  two  or 
three  times  a  day,  and  she  always  *had  in  her  back- 
room, wine  or  something  stronger  to  treat  me  with, 
and  in  the  evening  I  saw  her  at  the  hotel.     When  her 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  Ill 

mother  came  back,  and  Margaret  opened  her  house 
again,  I  was  a  constant  visitor.  I  was  once  more 
caught ;  I  was  in  love. 

Matters  went  on  in  this  way  for  several  weeks, 
when  one  evening  I  told  her  that  I.  was  going  next 
day  to  Troy  on  business,  and  she  said  she  wanted  to 
go  there  to  buy  some  goods,  and  that  she  would 
gladly  take  the  opportunity  to  go  with  me,  if  I  would 
let  her.  Of  course,  I  was  only  too  happy  ;  and  the 
next  day  I  and  my  son,  and  she  and  one  of  the 
young  women  in  her  employ,  who  was  to  assist  her 
in  selecting  goods,  started  for  Troy.  When  I  called 
for  her,  just  as  we  were  leaving  the  house,  the  old 
lady,  her  mother,  called  out : 

"  Margaret,  don't  you  get  married  before  you 
come  back." 

"  I  guess  I  will,"  was  Margaret's  answer,  and  we 
went,  a  very  jovial  party  of  four,  to  Troy  and  put 
up  at  the  Girard  House,  where  we  had  dinner  to- 
gether, and  drank  a  good  deal  of  wine.  After  din- 
ner my  son  and  myself  went  to  attend  to  our  busi- 
ness, she  and  her  young  woman  going  to  make  their 
purchases,  and  arranging  to  meet  us  at  a  restaurant 
at  half  past  four  o'clock,  when  we  would  lunch  pre- 
paratory to  returning  to  Rutland. 


112  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

We  met  at  the  appointed  place  and  hour,  and  had 
a  very  lively  lunch  indeed,  an  orgie  in  fact,  with  not 
only  enough  to  eat,  but  altogether  too  much  to 
drink.  I  honestly  think  the  two  women  could  have 
laid  me  and  my  son  under  the  table,  and  would  have 
done  it,  if  we  had  not  looked  ■  out  for  ourselves ;  as 
it  was,  we  all  drank  a  great  deal  and  were  very 
merry.  We  were  in  a  room  by  ourselves,  and  when 
we  had  been  there  nearly  an  hour,  it  occurred  to 
Margaret  that  it  would  be  a  good  idea  to  humor  the 
old  lady's  dry  joke  about  the  danger  of  our  getting 
married  during  this  visit  to  Troy. 

"  Henry  "  said  she  to  my  son  ;  "  Go  out  and  ask 
the  woman  who  keeps  the  saloon  where  you  can  get 
a  blank  marriage  certificate,  and  then  get  one  and 
bring  it  here,  and  we'll  have  some  fun." 

We  were  all  just  drunk  enough  to  see  that  there 
was  a  joke  in  it,  and  we  urged  the  boy  to  go.  He 
went  to  the  woman,  who  directed  him  to  a  stationer's 
opposite,  and  presently  he  came  in  with  a  blank  mar- 
riage certificate.  We  called  for  pen  and  ink  and  he 
sat  down  and  filled  out  the  blank  form  putting  in 
my  name  and  Margaret  Bradley's,  signing  it  with 
some  odd  name  I  have  forgotten  as  that  of  the  cler- 
gyman performing  the  ceremony.     He  then  signed 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  113 

his  own  name  as  a  witness  to  the  marriage,  and  the 
young  woman  who  was  with  us  also  witnessed  it 
with  her  signature.  We  had  a  great  deal  of  fun 
over  it,  then  more  wine,  and  then  it  was  time  for  us 
to  hurry  to  the  depot  to  take  the  six  o'clock  train 
for  Rutland. 

Reaching  home  at  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night, 
we  found  the  old  lady  up,  and  waiting  for  Margaret. 
We  went  in  and  Margaret's  first  words  were : 

"  Well,  mother !  I'm  married  ;  I  told  you,  you 
know,  I  thought  I  should  be ;  and  here's  my  cer- 
tificate." 

The  mother  expressed  no  surprise — she  knew  her 
daughter  better  than  I  did,  then — but  quietly  con- 
gratulated her,  while  I  said  not  a  single  word.  My 
son  went  to  see  his  companion  home,  and,  as  I  had 
not  achieved  this  latest  greatness,  but  had  it  thrust 
upon  me,  I  and  my  new  found  "  wife  "  went  to  our 
room.  The  next  day  I  removed  from  the  hotel  to 
Margaret's  house  and  remained  there  during  my 
residence  in  Rutland,  she  introducing  me  to  her 
friends  as  her  husband,  and  seeming  to  consider  it 
an  established  fact. 

Three  weeks  after  this  mock  marriage,  however, 
I  told  Margaret  that  I  was  going  to  travel  about  the 


114  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

State  a  while  to  sell  my  medicines,  and  that  I  might 
be  absent  for  some  time.  She  made  no  objections, 
and  as  I  was  going  with  my  own  team  she  asked 
me  to  take  some  mantillas  and  a  few  other  goods 
which  were  a  little  out  of  fashion,  and  see  if  I  could 
not  sell  them  for  her.  To  be  sure  I  would,  and  we 
parted  on  the  best  of  terms. 

Behold  me  now,  not  only  a  medical  man  and  a 
marrying  man,  hut  also  a  man  milliner.  When  I 
could  not  dispose  of  my  medicines,  1  tried  mantillas, 
and  in  the  course  of  my  tour  I  sold  the  whole  of 
Margaret's  wares,  faithfully  remitting  to  her  the 
money  for  the  same.  I  think  she  would  have  put 
her  whole  stock  of  goods  on  me  to  work  off  in  the 
same  way ;  but  1  never  gave  her  the  opportunity  to 
do  so. 

My  journeying  brought  me  at  last  to  Montpelier 
where  I  proposed  to  stay  awhile  and  see  if  I  could 
establish  a  practice.  1  had  disposed  of  my  millen- 
ery  goods  and  had  nothing  to  attend  to  but  my  med- 
icines— alas  that  my  professional  acquirements  as  a 
marrying  man  should  again  have  been  called  in  re- 
quisition. But  it  was  to  be.  It  was  my  fate  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  another  milliner. 

"  Insatiate  monster !  would  not  one  suffice  ?" 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  115 

It  seems  not.  There  was  a  milliner  at  Rutland 
whose  family  and  friends  all  helieved  to  be  my  wife, 
though  she  knew  she  was  not ;  and  here  in  Mont- 
pelier  was  ready  waiting,  like  a  spider  for  a  fly,  an- 
other milliner  who  was  about  to  enmesh  me  in  the 
matrimonial  net.  I  had  not  been  in  the  place  a 
week  before  I  became  acquainted  with  Eliza  Gurn- 
sey.  I  could  hardly  help  it,  for  she  lived  in  the 
hotel  where  I  stopped,  and  although  she  was  full 
thirty-five  years  old,  she  was  altogether  the  most  at- 
tractive woman  in  the  house.  She  was  agreeable, 
good-looking,  intelligent,  and  what  the  vernacular 
calls  "  smart."  At  all  events,  she  was  much  too 
smart  for  me,  as  I  soon  found  out. 

She  had  a  considerable  millinery  establishment 
which  she  and  her  younger  sister  carried  on,  em- 
ploying several  women,  and  she  was  reputed  to  be 
well  off.  Strange  as  it  may  seem  in  the  light  of 
after  events,  she  actually  belonged  to  the  church 
and  was  a  regular  attendant  at  the  services.  But 
no  woman  in  town  was  more  talked  about,  and  pre- 
cisely what  sort  of  a  woman  she  was  may  be  esti- 
mated from  the  fact  that  I  had  known  her  but  little 
more  than  a  week,  when  she  proposed  that  she,  her 


116  SEVEN    WIVES   AND 

sister  and  I  should  go  to  Saratoga  together,  and 
have  a  good  time  for  a  day  or  two. 

I  was  fairly  fascinated  with  the  woman  and  I  con- 
sented. The  younger  sister  was  taken  with  us,  I 
thought  at  first  as  a  cover,  I  knew  afterwards  as  a 
confederate,  and  Eliza  paid  all  the  bills,  which 
were  by  no  means  small  ones,  of  the  entire  trip. 
We  stopped  in  Saratoga  at  a  hotel,  which  is  now  in 
very  different  hands,  but  which  was  then  kept  by 
proprietors  who,  in  addition  to  a  most  excellent  table 
and  accommodations,  afforded  their  guests  the  op- 
portunity, if  they  desired  it,  of  attending  prayers 
every  night  and  morning  in  one  of  the  parlors. 
This  may  have  been  the  inducement  which  made 
Eliza  insist  upon  going  to  this  house,  but  I  doubt  it. 

For  our  stay  at  Saratoga,  three  or  four  days,  was 
one  wild  revel.  We  rode  about,  got  drunk,  went  to 
the  Lake,  came  back  to  the  hotel,  and  the  second 
day  we  were  there,  Eliza  sent  her  sister  for  a  Pres- 
byterian minister,  whose  address  she  had  somehow 
secured,  and  this  minister  came  to  the  hotel  and 
married  us.  I  presume  I  consented,  I  don't  know, 
for  I  was  too  much  under  the  effect  of  liquor  to 
know  much  of  anything.  I  have  an  indistinct  rec- 
ollection  of  some  sort  of  a   ceremony,  and  after- 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  117 

wards  Eliza  showed  me  a  certificate — no  Troy  af- 
fair, but  a  genuine  document  signed  by  a  minister 
residing  in  Saratoga,  and  witnessed  by  her  sister 
and  some  one  in  the  hotel  who  had  been  called  in. 
But  the  whole  was  like  a  dream  to  me  ;  it  was  the 
plot  of  an  infamous  woman  to  endeavor  to  make  her- 
self respectable  by  means  of  a  marriage,  no  matter 
to  whom  or  how  that  marriage  was  effected. 

Meanwhile,  the  Montpelier  papers  had  the  whole 
story,  one  of  them  publishing  a  glowing  account  of 
my  elopement  with  Miss  Gurnsey,  and  the  facts  of 
our  marriage  at  Saratoga  was  duly  chronicled.  This 
paper  fell  into  the  hands  of  Miss  Bradley,  at  Rut- 
land, and  as  she  claimed  to  be  my  wife,  and  had 
parted  with  me  only  a  little  while  before,  when  I 
went  out  to  peddle  medicines  and  millinery,  her  feel- 
ings can  be  imagined.  She  read  the  story  and  then 
aroused  all  Rutland.  I  had  not  been  back  from  Sar- 
atoga half  an  hour  before  I  was  arrested  in  the  pub- 
lic house  in  Montpelier  and  taken  before  a  magis- 
trate, on  complaint  of  Miss  Bradley,  of  Rutland, 
that  I  was  guilty  of  bigamy. 

The  examination  was  a  long  one,  and  as  the  facts 
which  were  then  shown  appeared  afterwards  in  my 
trial  they  need  not  be  noted  now.     I  had  two  first- 


118  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

rate  lawyers,  but  for  all  that,  and  with  the  plainest 
showing  that  Margaret  Bradley  had  no  claim  what- 
ever to  be  considered  my  wife,  I  was  bound  over  in 
the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars  to  appear  for 
trial,  and  was  sent  to  jail.  There  was  a  tremendous 
excitement  about  the  matter,  and  the  whole  town 
seemed  interested. 

To  jail  I  went,  Eliza  going  with  me,  and  insisting 
upon  staying ;  but  the  jailer  would  not  let  her,  nor 
was  she  permitted  to  visit  me  during  my  entire  stay 
there,  at  least  she  got  in  to  see  me  but  once.  I 
made  every  effort  to  get  bail,  but  was  unsuccessful. 
Eight  long  weary  months  elapsed  before  my  trial 
came  on,  and  all  this  while  I  was  in  jail.  My  trial 
lasted  a  week.  The  Bradley  woman  knew  she  was 
no  more  married  to  me  than  she  was  to  the  man  in 
the  moon  ;  but  she  swore  stoutly  that  we  were  actu- 
ally wedded  according  to  the  certificate.  On  the 
other  hand,  my  son  swore  to  all  the  facts  about  the 
Troy  spree,  and  his  buying  and  filling  out  the  cer- 
tificate, which  showed  for  itself  that,  excepting  the 
signature  of  the  young  woman  who  also  witnessed 
it,  it  was  entirely  in  Henry's  handwriting.  I  should 
have  got  along  well  enough  so  far  as  the  Bradley 
woman   was   concerned ;   but    the   prosecution  had 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  119 

been  put  in  possession  of  all  the  facts  relative  to  my 
first  and  worst  marriage,  and  the  whole  matter  came 
up  in  this  case.  The  District  Attorney  had  sent 
everywhere,  as  far  even  as  Illinois,  for  witness  with 
regard  to  that  marriage.  It  seemed  as  if  all  Ver- 
mont was  against  me.  I  have  heard  that  with  the 
cost  of  witnesses  and  other  expenses,  my  trial  cost 
the  state  more  than  five  thousand  dollars.  My  three 
lawyers  could  not  save  me.  After  a  week's  trial  the 
case  went  to  the  jury,  and  in  four  hours  they  returned 
a  verdict  of  "  guilty." 

My  counsel  instantly  appealed  the  case  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  and,  meanwhile  I  went  back  to  jail 
where  I  remained  three  months  more.  A  few  days 
after  I  returned  to  jail  a  friend  of  mine  managed  to 
famish  me  with  files  and  saws,  and  I  went  indus- 
triously to  work  at  the  gratings  of  my  window  to 
saw  my  way  out.  I  could  work  only  at  night,  when 
the  keepers  were  away,  and  I  covered  the  traces  of 
my  cuttings  by  filling  in  with  tallow.  In  two 
months  I  had  everything  in  readiness  for  my  escape. 
An  hour's  more  sawing  at  the  bars  would  set  me  free. 

But  just  at  that  time  the  Governor  of  the  State, 
Fletcher,  made  a  visit  to  the  jail.  I  told  him  all 
about  my  case.     He  assured  me,  after  hearing  all 


120  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

the  circumstances,  that  if  I  should  be  convicted  and 
sentenced,  he  would  surely  pardon  me  in  the  course 
of  six  or  eight  weeks.  Trusting  in  this  promise,  I 
made  no  further  effort  to  escape  though  I  could  have 
done  so  easily  any  night ;  but  rather  than  run  the 
risk  of  recapture,  and  a  heavier  sentence  if  I  should 
be  convicted,  I  awaited  the  chances  of  the  court, 
and  looked  beyond  for  the  clemency  of  the  Governor. 
Well,  finally  my  case  came  up  in  the  Supreme 
Court.  It  only  occupied  a  day,  and  the  result  was 
that  I  was  sentenced  for  three  years  in  the  State 
prison.  I  was  remanded  to  jail,  and  five  days  from 
that  time  I  was  taken  from  Montpelier  to  Windsor. 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  121 


CHAPTER   X. 

PRISON-LIFE    IN    VERMONT. 

ENTERING  PRISON — THE  SCYTHE  SNATH  BUSINESS — BLISTERED 
HANDS — I  LEAKN  NOTHING THREAT  TO  KILL  THE  SHOP-KEEP- 
ER— LOCKSMITH  ING — OPEN  REBELLION — SIX  WEEKS  IN  THE 
DUNGEON — ESCAPE    OP   A   PRISONER — IN    THE  DUNGEON   AGAIN — 

THE    MAD    MAN,    HALL HE    ATTEMPTS    TO    MURDER    THE    DEPUTY 

— I      SAVE     MOREY'S     LIFE — HOWLING     IN     THE     BLACK    HOLE — 

TAKING    OFF    HALL'8    IEONS A    GHASTLY    SPECTACLE A  PRISON 

FUNERAL — I    AM    LET    ALONE — BETTER    TREATMENT — THE     FULL 
TERM   OF    MY    IMPRISONMENT. 

We  arrived  at  Windsor  and  I  was  safely  inside  of 
the  prison  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  War- 
den Harlow  met  me  with  a  joke,  to  the  effect  that, 
had  it  not  been  for  my  handcuffs  he  should  have  taken 
the  officer  who  brought  me,  to  be  the  prisoner,  I  was 
so  much  the  better  dressed  of  the  two.  He  then 
talked  very  seriously  to  me  for  a  long  time.  He 
was  sorry,  and  surprised,  he  said,  to  see  a  man  of 
my  appearance  brought  to  such  a  place  for  such  a 
crime  ;  he  could  not  understand  how  a  person  of  my 
evident  intelligence  should  get  into  such  a  scrape. 


122  SEVEN  WIVES   AND 

I  told  him  that  he  understood  it  as  well  as  I  did, 
at  all  events  ;  that  I  could  not  conceive  why  I  should 
get  into  these  difficulties,  one  after  the  other ;  but 
that  I  believed  I  was  a  crazy  man  on  this  one  sub- 
ject— matrimonial  monomania ;  that  when  I  had 
gone  through  with  one  of  these  scrapes,  and  had 
suffered  the  severe  punishment  that  was  almost  cer- 
tain to  follow,  the  whole  was  like  a  dream  to  me — a 
nightmare  and  nothing  more.  With  regard  to  what 
was  before  me  in  this  prison  I  should  try  and  behave 
myself,  and  make  the  best  of  the  situation  •  but  I 
notified  the  Warden  that  I  did  not  mean  to  do  one  bit 
of  work  if  I  could  help  it. 

He  took  me  inside,  where  my  fine  clothes  were 
taken  away,  and  I  was  dressed  in  the  usual  parti- 
colored prison  uniform.  I  was  told  the  rules,  and 
was  warned  that  if  I  did  not  observe  them  it  would 
go  hard  with  me.  Then  followed  twenty-four  hours' 
solitary  confinement,  and  the  next  afternoon  I  was 
taken  from  my  cell  to  a  shop  in  which  scythe  snaths 
were  made. 

It  had  transpired  during  my  trial  at  Montpclier, 
that  when  I  was  a  young  man,  I  was  a  blacksmith 
by  trade.  This  information  had  been  transmitted  to 
prison  and  I  was  at  once  put  to  work  making  heel 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  123 

rings.  It  was  some  years  since  I  had  worked  at  a 
forge  and  handled  a  hammer.  Consequently,  in 
three  or  four  days,  my  hands  were  terribly  blistered, 
and  as  the  Warden  happened  to  come  into  the  shop, 
I  showed  them  to  him,  and  quietly  told  him  that  I 
would  do  that  work  no  longer.  He  told  me  that  I 
must  do  it ;  he  would  make  me  do  it.  I  answered 
that  he  might  kill  me,  or  punish  me  in  any  way  he 
pleased,  but  he  could  not  make  me  do  that  kind  of 
labor,  *and  I  threw  down  my  hammer  and  refused  to 
work  a  moment  longer. 

The  Warden  left  me  and  sent  Deputy  Warden  Mo- 
rey  to  try  me.  He  approached  me  in  a  kindly  way, 
and  I  showed  my  blistered  hands  to  him.  He 
thought  that  was  the  way  to  "  toughen "  me.  I 
thought  not,  and  said  so,  and,  moreover,  told  him  I 
would  never  make  another  heel  ring  in  that  prison, 
and  I  never  did. 

He  sent  me  to  my  cell  and  I  stayed  there  a  week, 
till  my  hands  were  well.  Then  the  Deputy  came  to 
me  and  asked  me  if  I  was  willing  to  learn  to  hew 
out  scythe  snaths  in  the  rough  for  the  shavers,  who 
finished  them  ?  I  said  I  would  try.  I  went  into  the 
shop  and  was  shown  how  the  work  was  to  be  done. 
Every  man  was  expected  to  hew  out  fifty  snaths  in  a 
6 


124  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

day.  In  three  or  four  days  the  shop-keeper  came 
and  overlooked  me  while  I  was  working  in  my  bung- 
ling way,  and  said  if  I  could  n't  do  better  than  that 
I  must  clear  out  of  his  shop  and  do  something  else. 
My  reply  was  that  I  did  not  understand  the  business, 
and  had  no  desire  or  intention  to  learn  it.  He  sent 
for  the  Deputy  Warden,  who  came  and  expressed 
the  opinion  that  I  could  not  do  anything.  I  said  I 
was  willing  to  do  anything  I  could  understand. 

"  Do  you  understand  anything?"  asked  the  Deputy. 

"  Well,  some  things,  marrying  for  instance,"  was 
my  answer. 

"  I  want  ijo  joking  or  blackguardism  about  this 
matter,"  said  the  Deputy ;  "  the  simple  fact  is, 
you've  got  to  work  ;  if  you  don't  we'll  make  you." 

So  I  kept  on  at  hewing,  making  no  improvement, 
and  in  a  day  or  two  more  the  shop-keeper  undertook 
to  show  me. how  the  work  should  be  done.  I  pro 
tested  I  never  could  learn  it. 

"  You  don't  try  ;  and  I  have  a  good  mind  to  pun- 
ish you." 

The  moment  the  shop-keeper  said  it  I  dropped 
the  snath,  •  raised  my  axe,  and  told  him  that  if  he 
came  one  step  nearer  to  me  I  would  make  mince- 
meat of  him.     He  thought  it  was  advisable  to  stay 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  125 

where  he  was  ;  but  one  of  the  prison-keepers  was  in 
the  shop,  and  as  he  came  toward  me  I  warned  him 
that  he  had  better  keep  away. 

All  the  men  in  the  shop  were  ready  to  break  out 
in  insubordination ;  when  I-  threatened  the  shop, 
keeper  and  the  guard,  they  cheered ;  the  Deputy- 
Warden  was  soon  on  the  ground ;  he  stood  in  the 
doorway  a  moment,  and  then,  in  a  kind  tone  called 
me  to  him.  I  had  no  immediate  quarrel  with  him, 
and  so  I  dropped  my  axe  and  went  to  him.  He  told 
me  that  there  was  no  use  of  "  making  a  muss"  there, 
it  incited  the  other  prisoners  to  insubordination,  and 
was  sure  to  bring  severe  punishment  upon  myself. 
"  Go  and  get  your  cap  and  coat,"  said  he,  "  and 
come  with  me." 

"  But  if  you  are  going  to  put  me  into  that  black 
hole  of  yours,"  I  exclaimed,  "I  won't- go;  you'll 
have  to  drag  me  there,  or  kill  me  on  the  way." 

He  promised  he  would  not  put  me  in  the  dungeon, 
he  was  only  going  to  put  me  in  my  cell,  he  said,  and 
to  my  cell  I  went,  willingly  enough,  and  stayed  there 
a  week,  during  which  time  I  suppose  everyone  of  my 
shopmates  thought  I  was  in  the  dungeon,  undergoing 
severe  punishment  for  my  rebellious  conduct. 

1  had  learned  now  the  worst  lesson  which  a  pris- 


126  SEVEN    WIVES   AND 

oner  can  learn — that  is,  that  my  keepers  were  afraid 
of  me.  To  a  limited  extent,  it  is  true,  I  was  now 
my  own  master  and  keeper.  In  a  few  days  Deputy 
Morey  came  to  me  and  asked  me  if  I  was  "  willing" 
to  come  out  and  work.  I  was  sick  of  solitary  con- 
finement, and  longed  to  see  the  faces  of  men,  even 
prisoners :  so  I  told  him  if  I  could  get  any  work  I 
could,  do  I  was  willing  to  try  it,  and  would  do  as 
well  as  I  knew  how.  He  asked  me  if  I  knew  any- 
thing of  locksmithing  ?  I  told  him  I  had  some  taste 
for  it,  and  if  he  would  show  me  his  job  I  would  let 
him  see  what  I  could  do. 

The  fact  is,  I  was  a  very  fair  amateur  locksmith, 
« 
and  had  quite  a  fondness  for  fixing,  picking,  and 

fussing  generally  over  locks.     Accordingly,  when  he 

gave  me  a  lock  to  work  upon  to  make  it  "  play  easier," 

as  he  described  it,  I  did  the  job  so  satisfactorily  that 

I  had  nearly  every  lock  in  the  prison  to  take  off  and 

operate  upon,  if  it  was  nothing  more  than  to  clean 

and  oil  one.     This  business  occupied  my  entire  time 

and  attention  for  nearly  three  months.     Then  I  re_ 

paired  iron  bedsteads,  did  other  iron  work,  and  I  was 

the  general  tinker  of  the  prison. 

It  came  into  my  head,  however,  one   day,  that  I 

might   as   well    do    nothing.     The  prison  fare  was 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  127 

indescribably  bad,  almost  as  bad  as  the  jail  fare  at 
Easton.  We  lived  upon  the  poorest  possible  salt 
beef  for  dinner,  varied  now  and  then  with  plucks  and 
such  stuff  from  the  slaughter  houses,  with  nothing  but 
bread  and  rye  coffee  for  breakfast  and  supper,  and 
mush  and  molasses  perhaps  twice  a  week. 

I  was  daily  abused,  too,  by- the  Warden,  his  Depu- 
ty, and  his  keepers.-  They  looked  upon  me  as  an 
ugly,  insubordinate,  refractory,  rebellious  rascal,  who 
was  ready  to  kill  any  of  them,  and,  worst  of  all,  who 
would  not  work.  I  determined  to  confirm  their 
minds  in  the  latter  supposition,  and  so  one  day  I 
threw  down  my  tools  and  refused  to  do  another 
thing. 

They  dragged  me  to  the  dungeon  and  thrust  me 
in.  It  was  a  wretched  dark  hole,  with  a  little  dirty 
straw  in  one  corner  to  lie  upon.  My  entire  food  and 
drink  was  bread  and  water.  The  man  who  brought 
it  never  spoke  to  me.  His  face  was  the  only  one  I 
saw  during  the  livelong  day.  Day  and  night  were 
alike  to  me  ;  I  lost  the  run  of  time  ;  but  at  long  in- 
tervals, once  in  eight  or  ten  days,  I  suppose,  the 
Deputy  came  to  this  hole  and  asked  me  if  I  would 
come  out  and  work. 

" No,  no !"  1  always  answered,  "never!"     Then 


128  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

I  paced  the  stone  floor  in  the  dark,  or  lay  on  my 
straw.  I  lay  there  till  my  hips  were  worn  raw. 
No  human  being  can  conceive  the  agony,  the  suffer- 
ing I  endured  in  this  dungeon.  At  last  I  was  near- 
ly blind,  and  was  scarcely  able  to  stand  up.  I  pre- 
sume that  the  attendant  who  brought  my  daily  dole 
of  bread  and  my  cup  of  water,  reported  my  condi- 
tion. One  day  the  door  opened  and  I  was  ordered 
out.  They  were  obliged  to  bring  me  out ;  I  was  so 
reduced  that  I  was  but  the  shadow  of  myself.  They 
meant  to  cure  my  obstinacy  or  to  kill  me,  and  had 
not  quite  succeeded  in  doing  either. 

There  was  no  use  in  asking  me  if  I  would  go  to  work 
then  ;  I  was  just  alive.  A  few  days  in  my  own  cell, 
in  the  daylight,  and  with  something  beside  bread 
and  water  to  eat,  partially  restored  me.  I  was  then 
taken  into  the  shop  where  the  snaths  were  finished 
by  scraping  and  varnishing,  the  lightest  part  of  the 
work,  but  I  would  not  learn,  would  not  do,  would  not 
try  to  do  anything  at  all.  They  gave  me  up.  The 
whole  struggle  nearly  killed  me,  but  I  beat  them. 
I  was  turned  into  the  halls  and  told  to  do  what  I 
could,  which,  I  knew  well  enough,  meant  what  I 
would. 

After  that  I  worked  about  the  halls  and  vard, 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  129 

sometimes  sweeping,  and  again  carrying  something, 
or  doing  errands  for  the  keepers  from  one  part  of 
the  prison  to  another.  I  was  what  theatrical  mana- 
gers call  a  general  utility  man,  and,  not  at  all 
strangely,  for  it  is  human  nature,  now  that  I  could 
do  what  I  pleased,  I  pleased  to  do  a  great  deal,  and 
was  tolerably  useful,  and  far  more  agreeable  than 
1  had  been  in  the  past. 

There  was  a  young  fellow,  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
in  one  of  the  cells,  serving  out  a  sentence  of  six 
years.  When  I  was  sweeping  around  I  used  to  stop 
and  talk  to  him  every  day.  One  day  he  was  miss- 
ing. He  had  been  supposed  to  be  sick  or  asleep 
for  several  hours,  for  apparently  he  lay  in  bed,  and 
was  lying  very  still.  But  that  was  only  an  inge- 
niously constructed  dummy.  The  young  man  him- 
self had  made  a  hole  under  his  bed  into  an  ad- 
joining vacant  cell,  the  door  of  which  stood  open. 
He  had  crawled  through  his  hole,  come  out  of  the 
vacant  cell  door,  and  gone  up  to  the  prison  gar- 
ret, where  he  found  some  old  pieces  of  rope.  These 
he  tied  together,  and  getting  out  at  the  cupola 
upon  the  roof,  he  managed  to  let  himself  down 
on  the  outside  of  the  building  and  got  away.  He 
was  never  recaptured.     The  Warden  said  that  some 


130  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

one  must  have  told  him  about  the  adjoining  vacant 
cell,  with  its  always  open  door,  else  how  would  the 
young  man  have  known  it  ? 

I  was  accused  of  imparting  this  valuable  informa- 
tion, and  I  suffered  four  weeks'  confinement  in  that 
horrible  dungeon  on  the  mere  suspicion.  This 
made  ten  weeks  in  all  of  my  prison-life  in  a  hole  in 
which  I  suffered  so  that  1  hoped  I  should  die  there. 

One  of  the  prisoners  was  a  desperate  man,  named 
Hall.  He  was  a  convicted  murderer,  and  was  sen- 
tenced for  life.  He,  too,  worked  about  in  the  prison 
and  the  yards,  dragging  or  carrying  a  heavy  ball 
and  chain.  When  bundles  of  snaths  were  to  be  car- 
ried from  one  shop  to  the  other  in  the  various  pro- 
cesses of  finishing,  Hall  had  to  do  it,  and  to  carry 
his  ball  and  chain  as  well,  so  that  he  was  loaded  like 
a  pack-horse.     No  pack-horse  was  ever  so  abused. 

Of  course  he  was  ugly ;  the  wardens  and  the  keep- 
ers knew  it,  and  generally  kept  away  from  him. 

I  talked  with  him  more  than  once,  and  he  told  me 
that  with  better  treatment  he  should  be  a  better  man. 
"  Look  at  the  loads  which  are  put  on  me  every 
day,"  he  would  say ;  "  as  if  this  ball  and  chain 
were  not  as  much  as  I  can  carry ;  and  this  for  life, 
for  life !" 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  133 

One  day  when  Hall  and  I  were  working  together  in 
the  prison,  Deputy  Warden  Morey  came  in  and  said 
something  to  him,  and  in  a  moment  the  man  sprung 
upon  him.  He  had  secured  somehow,  perhaps  he 
had  picked  it  up  in  the  yard,  a  pocket  knife,  and 
with  this  he  stabbed  the  Warden,  striking  him  in  the 
shoulder,  arm,  and  where  he  could. 

Morey  was  a  man  sixty-five  years  of  age,  and  he 
made  such  resistance  as  he  could,  crying  out  loudly 
for  help.  I  turned,  ran  to  Hall,  and  with  one  blow 
of  my  fist  knocked  him  nearly  senseless  ;  then  help 
came  and  we  secured  the  mad  man.  Morey  was  pro- 
fuse in  protestations  of  gratitude  to  me  for  saving 
his  life. 

There  was  a  great  excitement  over  this  attempt  to 
murder  the  Deputy,  and  for  a  few  hours,  with  war- 
dens and  keepers,  I  was  a  hero.  I  had  been  in  the 
prison  more  than  a  year,  and  was  generally  regarded 
as  one  of  the  worst  prisoners,  one  of  the  "hardest 
cases  ;"  a  mere  chance  had  suddenly  made  me  one  of 
the  most  commendable  men  within  those  dreary  walls. 

As  for  Hall,  he  was  taken  to  the  dungeon  and  se- 
curely chained  by  the  feet  to  a  ring  in  the  center  of 
the  stone  floor.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the 
man  was  a  raving  maniac.     He  howled  night  and 


184  SEVEN   WIVES    AND 

day  so  that  he  could  be  heard  everywhere  in  the 
prison — "  Murder,  murder !  they  are  murdering  me 
in  this  black  hole  ;  why  don't  they  take  me  out  and 
kill  me  ?" 

The  Warden  said  it  could  not  be  helped  ;  that  the 
man  must  be  kept  there ;  he  was  dangerous  to  himself 
and  others  ;  the  dark  cell  was  the  only  place  for  him. 
So  Hall  stayed  there  and  howled,  his  cries  growing 
weaker  from  day  to  day ;  by-and-by  we  heard  him 
only  at  intervals,  and  after  that  not  at  all. 

One  morning  there  was  a  little  knot  of  men  around 
the  open  dungeon  door,  the  Deputy  Warden  and  two 
or  three  keepers.  Mr  Morey  called  to  me  to  go  and 
get  the  tools  and  come  there  and  take  off  Hall's 
irons.  1  went  into  the  cell  and  in  a  few  minutes  I 
unfastened  his  feet  from  the  ring  ;  then  I  took  the 
shackles  off  his  limbs.  1  thought  he  held  his  legs 
very  stiff,  but  knew  he  was  obstinate,  and  only  won- 
dered he  was  so  quiet. 

Somebody  brought  in  a  candle  and  I  looked  at 
Hall's  face.  I  never  saw  a  more  ghastly  sight.  The 
blood  from  his  mouth  and  nostrils  had  clotted  on  the 
lower  part  of  his  face,  and  his  wild  eyes,  fixed  and 
glassy,  were  staring  at  the  top  wall  of  the  dungeon. 
He  must  have  been  dead  several  hours.     The  Depu- 


SKVEN   PKISONS.  135 

ty  and  the  rest  knew  lie  was  dead — the  man  who  car-; 
ricd  in  the  bread  and  water  told  them — but  to  me 
it  came  with  a  shock   from    which  I  did  not  soon 
recover. 

They  buried  Hall  in  the  little  graveyard  which 
was  is  the  yard  of  the  prison.  An  Episcopal  cler- 
gyman, who  was  chaplain  of  the  prison,  read  the 
burial  service  over  him.  The  prisoners  were  brought 
out  to  attend  the  homely  funeral.  The  ball  and 
chain,  all  the  personal  property  left  by  Hall,  were 
put  aside  for  the  next  murderer  sentenced  for  life, 
or  for  the  next  "ugly"  prisoner.  "If  I  were  only 
treated  better,  and  not  abused  so,  I  should  be  a  bet- 
ter man."  This  is  what  Hall  used  to  say  to  me 
whenever  he  had  an  opportunity.  The  last  and 
worst  and  best  in  that  prison  had  been  done  for  him 
now. 

From  the  day  when  I  rescued  Morcy  from  the 
hands  of  Hall,  his  whole  manner  changed  towards 
me,  and  he  treated  me  with  great  kindness,  frequent- 
ly bringing  me  a  cup  of  tea  or  coffee,  and  something 
good  to  eat.  He  also  promised  to  present  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Hall  affair  to  the  Governor,  and 
to  urge  my  pardon,  but  I  do  not  think  he  ever  did  so, 
at  least  I  heard  nothing  of  it.     When  I  pressed  the 


136  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

matter  upon  Moroy's  attention  he  said  it  would  do 
no  good  till  I  had  served  out  half  my  sentence,  and 
then  he  would  see  what  could  be  done. 

I  served  half  my  sentence,  and  then  the  other 
hal  f,  every  day  of  it.  But  during  the  last  two  years 
1  had  very  little  to  complain  of  except  the  loss  of 
my  liberty.  1  was  put  into  the  cook  shop  where 
I  could  get  better  food,  and  I  did  pretty  much 
what  I  pleased.  By  general  consent  I  was  let 
alone.  They  had  found  out  that  ill  usage  only 
made  mc  "  ugly,"  while  kindness  made  me  at  least 
behave  myself.  And  so  the  three  weary  years  of 
my  confinement  were  on  to  an  end. 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  137 


CHAPTER    XI. 

ON    THE    TRAMP. 

THE  DAT  OF  MY  DELIVERANCE — OUT    OF    CLOTHES — SHARING  WITH 

A  BEGGAR A  GOOD    FRIEND TRAMPING    THROUGH  THE    SNOW 

WEARY    WALKS TRUSTING    TO    LUCK COMFORT    AT    CONCORD 

AT  MEREDITH    BRIDGE THE    BLAISDELLS — LAST    OF    THE    "BLOS- 
SOM "    BUSINESS MAKING  MONEY  AT  PORTSMOUTH — REVISITING 

WINDSOR AN  ASTONISHED  WARDEN MAKING  FRIENDS    OF    OLD 

ENEMIES INSPECTING  THE  PRISON GOING  TO  PORT  JERVIS. 

At  last  the  happy  day  of  my  deliverance  came. 
The  penalty  for  pretending  to  marry  one  milliner 
and  for  being  married  by  another  milliner  was  paid. 
My  sentence  was  fulfilled.  I  had  looked  forward  to 
this  day  for  months.  Of  all  my  jail  and  prison  life 
in  different  States,  this  in  Vermont  was  the  hardest, 
the  most  severe.  My  obstinacy,  no  doubt,  did  much 
at  first  to  enhance  my  sufferings,  and  it  was  the  ac- 
cident only  of  my  saving  Morey's  life  that  made  the 
last  part  of  my  imprisonment  a  little  more  tolerable. 

When  I  was  preparing  to  go,  it  was  discovered 
that  the  fine  suit  of  clothes  1  wore  into  the  prison 


138  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

had  been  given  by  mistake  or  design  to  some  one 
else,  and  my  silk  hat  and  calf-skin  boots  had  gone 
with  the  clothes.  But  never  mind  !  I  would  have 
gone  out  into  the  world  in  rags — my  liberty  was  all 
I  wanted  then.  The  Warden  gave  me  one  of  his 
own  old  coats,  a  ragged  pair  of  pantaloons,  and  a 
new  pair  of  brogan  shoes.  He  also  gave  me  three 
dollars,  which  was  precisely  a  dollar  a  year  for  my 
services,,  and  this  was  more  than  I  ever  meant  to 
earn  there.  Thus  equipped  and  supplied  I  was  sent 
out  into  the  streets  of  Windsor. 

I  had  not  gone  half  a  mile  before  I  met  a  poor  old 
woman  whom  I  had  known  very  well  in  Rutland. 
She  recognized  me  at  once,  though  I  know  I  was 
sadly  changed  for  the  worse.  She  was  on  her  way 
to  Fall  River,  where  she  had  relatives,  and  where 
she  hoped  for  help,  but  had  no.  money  to  pay  her  fare, 
so  I  divided  my  small  stock  with  her,  and  that  left 
me  just  one  dollar  and  a  half  with  which  to  begin 
the  world  again.  I  went  down  to  the  bridge  and  the 
toll-gatherer  gave  me  as  much  as  I  could  eat,  twen- 
ty-five cents  in  money,  and  a  pocket-full  of  food  to 
carry  with  me.  I  was  heading,  footing  rather,  for 
Meredith  Bridge  in  New  Hampshire.  It  was  in  the 
month  of  December,  and  I  was  poorly  clad  and  with- 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  139 

out  an  overcoat.  I  must  have  walked  fifteen  miles 
that  afternoon,  and  just  at  nightfall  I  came  to  a  way- 
side public  house  and  ventured  to  go  in.  As  I  stood 
by  the  fire,  the  landlord  stepped  up  and  slapping  me 
on  the  shoulder,  said  : 

"  Friend,  you  look  as  if  you  were  in  trouble  ;  step 
up  and  have  something  to  drink." 

I  gladly  accepted  the  invitation  to  partake  of  the 
first  glass  of  liquor  I  had  tasted  in  three  years.  It 
was  something,  too,  everything  to  be  addressed  thus 
kindly.  I  told  this  worthy  landlord  my  whole  story ; 
how  I  had  been  trapped  by  the  two  milliners,  and 
how  I  had  subsequently  suffered.  He  had  read 
something  about  it  in  the  papers ;  he  felt  as  if  he 
knew  me ;  he  certainly  was  sorry  for  me ;  and  he 
proved  his  sympathy  by  giving  me  what  then  seemed 
to  me  the  best  supper  I  had  ever  eaten,  a  good  bed, 
a  good  breakfast,  a  package  of  .provisions  to  carry 
with  me,  and  then  sent  me  on  my  way  with  a  com- 
paratively light  heart. 

It  rained,  snowed,  and  drizzled  all  day  long.  I 
tramped  through  the  wet  snow  ankle  deep,  but  made 
nearly  forty  miles  before  night,  and  then  came  to  a 
public  bouse  which  I  knew  well.  When  1  was  in 
the  bar-room  drying  myself  and  warming  my  wet 


140  SEVEN  WIVES    AND 

and  half-frozen  feet,  I  could  not  but  think  how,  only 
a  few  years  before,  I  had  put  up  at  that  very  house, 
with  a  fine  horse  and  buggy  of  my  own  in  the  stable, 
and  plenty  of  money  in  my  pocket.  The  landlord's 
face  was  familiar  enough,  but  he  did  not  know  me, 
nor,  under  my  changed  circumstances,  did  I  desire 
that  he  should.  Supper,  lodging,  and  breakfast 
nearly  exhausted  my  small  money  capital ;  I  was 
worn  and  weary,  too,  and  the  next  day  was  able  to 
walk  but  twenty  miles,  all  told.  On  the  way,  at 
noon  I  went  into  a  farm  house  to  warm  myself. 
The  woman  had  just  baked  a  short-cake  which 
stood  on  the  hearth,  toward  which  I  must  have  cast 
longing  eyes,  for  the  farmer  said : 
"  Have  you  had  your  dinner,  man  ?" 
"  No,  and  I  have  no  money  to  buy  any." 
"  Well,  you  don't  need  money  here.  Wife,  put 
that  short-cake  and^  some  butter  on  the  table  ;  now, 
my  man,  fall  to  and  eat  as  much  as  you  like." 

I  was  very  hungry,  and  I  declare  I  ate  the  whole 
of  that  short-cake.  I  told  these  people  that  I  had 
been  in  better  circumstances,  and  that  I  was  not 
always  the  poor,  ragged,  hungry  wretch  I  appeared 
then.  They  made  me  welcome  to  what  I  had  eaten, 
and  when  I  went  away  filled  my  pockets  with  food. 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  141 

At  night  I  was  about  thirty  miles  above  Concord.  I 
had  no  money,  but  trusting  to  luck,  I  got  on  the  cars 
— the  conductor  came,  and  when  he  found  I  had  no 
ticket,  he  said  he  must  put  me  off.  It  was  a  bitter 
night  and  I  told  him  I  should  be  sure  to  freeze  to 
death.  A  gentleman  who  heard  the  conversation  at 
once  paid  my  fare,  fort  which  I  expressed  my  grateful 
thanks,  and  I  went  to  Concord. 

On  my  arrival  I  went  to  a  hotel  and  told  the  land- 
lord I  wanted  to  stay  there  till  the  next  day,  when 
a  conductor  whom  I  knew  would  be  going  to  Mere- 
dith Bridge ;  that  I  was  going  with  him,  and  that 
he  would  probably  pay  my  bill  at  the  hotel.  "  All 
right,"  said  the  landlord,  and  he  gave  me  my  supper 
and  a  room.  The  next  noon  my  friend,  the  conduc- 
tor, came  and  when  I  first  spoke  to  him  he  did  not 
recognize  me  ;  I  told  him  who  I  was,  but  to  ask  me 
no  questions  as  to  how  I  came  to  appear  in  those 
old  clothes,  and  to  be  so  poor ;  I  wanted  to  borrow 
five  dollars,  and  to  go  with  him  to  Meredith  Bridge. 
He  greeted  me  very  cordially,  handed  me  a  ten-dol- 
lar bill — twice  as  much  as  I  asked  for — said  he  was 
not  going  to  the  Bridge  till  next  day,  and  told  me 
meanwhile,  to  go  to  the  hotel  and  make  myself  com- 
fortable. 


142  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

I  went  back  to  the  hotel,  paid  my  bill,  stayed 
there  that  day  and  night,  and  the  next  morning  I 
"  deadheaded  "  with  my  friend  the  conductor  to 
Meredith  Bridge.  Everybody  knew  me  there.  The 
hotel-keeper  made  me  welcome  to  his  house,  and 
said  I  could  stay  as  long  as  I  liked. 

"  Say,  dew  ye  ever  cure  anybody,  Doctor  ?"  asked 
my  old  friend,  the  landlord,  and  he  laughed  and 
nudged  me  in  the  ribs,  and  asked  me  to  take  some 
of  his  medicine  from  the  bar,  which  I  immediately 
did. 

I  was  at  home  now.  But  the  object  of  my  visit 
was  to  see  if  I  could  not  collect  some  of  my  old  bills 
in  that  neighborhood,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
several  hundred  dollars.  They  were  indeed  old  bills 
of  five  or  six  years'  standing,  and  I  had  very  little 
hope  of  collecting  much  money.  I  went  first  to 
Lake  Village,  and  called  on  Mr.  John  Blaisdell,  the 
husband  of  the  woman  whom  I  had  cured  of  the 
dropsy,  in  accordance,  as  she  believed  at  the  time, 
with  her  prophetic  dream.  Blaisdell  didn't  know  me 
at  first ;  then  he  wanted  to  know  what  my  bill  was  ; 
I  told  him  one  hundred  dollars,  to  say  nothing  of 
six  years'  interest ;  lie  said  he  had  no  money,  though 
lie  was  regarded  as  a  rich  man,  and  in  fact  was. 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  143 

"  But  sir,"  said  I,  "  you  see  me,  and  how  poor  I 
am.  Give  me  something  on  account.  I  am  so  poor 
that  I  even  borrowed  this  overcoat  from  the  tailor 
in  the  village,  that  I  might  present  a  little  more  re- 
spectable appearance  when  I  called  on  my  old  pa- 
tients to  try  to  collect  some  of  my  old  bills.  Please 
to  give  me  something." 

But  he  had  no  money.  He  would  pay  for  the 
overcoat ;  I  might  tell  the  tailor  so  ;  and  afterwards 
he  gave  me  a  pair  of  boots  and  an  old  shirt.  This 
was  the  fruit  which  my  "  blossom  "  of  years  before 
brought  at  last.  I  saw  Mrs.  Blaisdell,  but  she  said 
she  could  do  nothing  for  me.  She  had  forgotten 
what  I  had  done  for  her. 

Of  all  my  bills  in  that  vicinity,  with  a  week's  dun- 
ning, I  collected  only  three  dollars  ;  but  a  good 
friend  of  mine,  Sheriff  Hill,  went  around  and  suc- 
ceeded in  making  up  a  purse  of  twenty  dollars 
which  he  put  into  my  hands  just  as  I  was  going 
away.  My  old  landlord  wanted  nothing  for  my 
week's  board  ;  all  he  wanted  was  to  know  "if  I  ever 
cured  anybody  ;"  and  when  I  told  him  I  did,  "some- 
times," he  insisted  upon  my  taking  more  of  his 
medicine,  and  he  put  up  a  good  bottle  of  it  for  me 
to  carry  with  me  on  my  journey. 


144  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

With  my  twenty  dollars  I  went  to  Portsmouth, 
where  I  speedily  felt  that  I  was  among  old  and  true 
friends.  I  had  not  been  there  a  day  before  I  was 
called  upon  to  take  care  of  a  young  man  who  was 
sick,  and  after  a  few  weeks  charge  of  him  I  received 
in  addition  to  my  board  and  expenses,  three  hun- 
dred dollars.  I  was  now  enabled  to  clothe  myself 
handsomely,  and  I  did  so  and  went  to  Newburyport, 
where  I  remained  several  weeks  and  made  a  great 
deal  of  money. 

In  the  spring  I  went  to  White  River  Junction, 
and  while  I  was  in  the  hotel  taking  a  drink  with 
some  friends,  who  should  come  into  the  bar-room 
but  the  Lake  Village  tailor  from  whom  I  had  bor- 
rowed the  overcoat  which  I  had  even  then  on  my 
back.  I  was  about  to  thank  him  for  his  kindness  to 
me  when  he  took  me  aside  and  said  reproachfully : 

"  Doctor,  you  wore  away  my  overcoat  and  this  is 
it,  I  think." 

"  Good  heavens !  didn't  John  Blaisdell  pay  you 
for  the  coat  ?  He  told  me  he  would ;  its  little 
enough  out  of  what  he  owes  me." 

"  He  never  said  a  word  to  me  about  it,"  was  the 
reply.  I  told  the  tailor  the  circumstances  ;  I  did 
not  like  to  let  him  know  that  I  had  then  about  seven 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  145 

hundred  dollars  in  my  pocket ;  I  wished  to  appear 
poor  as  long  as  there  was  a  chance  to  collect  any 
of  my  Meredith  and  Lake  Village  bills ;  so  I  offered 
him  three  dollars  to  take  back  the  coat.  He  wil- 
lingly consented  and  that  was  the  last  of  the  "Blos- 
som "  business  with  the  Blaisdells. 

I  was  bound  not  to  leave  this  part  of  the  country 
without  revisiting  Windsor,  and  I  went  there,  stop- 
ping at  the  best  house  in  the  town,  and,  I  fear,  "  put- 
ting on  airs  "  a  little.  I  had  suffered  so  much  in 
this  place  that  I  wanted  to  see  if  there  was  any  en- 
joyment to  be  had  there.  Satisfaction  there  was, 
certainly — the  satisfaction  one  feels  in  going  back 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  to  a  spot 
where  he  lias  endured  the  very  depths  of  misery. 
After  a  good  dinner  I  set  out  to  visit  the  prison. 
Here  was  the  very  spot  in  the  street  where,  only  a 
few  months  before,  I,  a  ragged  beggar,  had  divided 
my  mere  morsel  of  money  with  the  poor  woman 
from  Rutland.  What  change  in  my  circumstances 
those  few  months  had  wrought.  I  had  recovered  my 
health  which  bad  food,  ill  usage,  and  imprisonment 
had  broken  down,  and  was  in  the  best  physical  con- 
dition. The  warden's  old  coat  and  pantaloons  had 
been  exchanged  for  the  finest  clothes  that  money 


lit)  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

would  buy.  I  had  a  good  gold  watch  aud  several 
hundred  dollars  in  my  pocket.  I  had  seen  many  of 
my  old  friends,  and  knew  that  they  were  still  my 
friends,  and  I  was  fully  restored  to  my  old  position. 
My  three  years'  imprisonment  was  only  a  blank  in 
my  existence ;  I  had  begun  life  again  and  afresh, 
precisely  where  I  left  off  before  I  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  two  Vermont  milliners. 

All  this  was  very  pleasant  to  reflect  upon ;  but  I 
do  not  believe  I  thought  even  then,  that  the  reason 
for  this  change  in  my  circumstances,  and  change  for 
the  better,  was  simply  because  I  had  minded  my 
business  and  had  let  women  alone. 

When  I  called  on  Warden  Harlow,  and  courteous- 
ly asked  to  be  shown  about  the  prison,  he  got  up  and 
was  ready  to  comply  with  my  request,  when  he 
looked  me  full  in  the  face  and  started  back  in 
amazement : 

"  Well,  I  declare  !     Is  this  you  ?" 

u  Yes,  Warden  Harlow ;  but  I  want  you  to  under- 
stand that  while  I  am  here  I  do  not  intend  to  do  a 
bit  of  work,  and  you  can't  make  me.  You  may  as 
well  give  it  up  first  as  last ;  I  won't  work  anyhow." 

The  Warden  laughed  heartily,  and  sent  for  Depu- 
ty Morey  who  came  in  to  "  see  a  gentleman,"  and 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  147 

was  much  astonished  to  find  the  prisoner,  who,  two 
years  before,  had  saved  his  life  from  the  hands  and 
knife  of  the  madman  Hall.  I  spent  a  very  pleasant 
hour  with  my  old  enemies,  and  I  took  occasion  to 
give  them  a  hint  or  two  with  regard  to  the  proper 
treatment  of  prisoners.  I  then  made  the  rounds  of 
the  prison,  and  went  into  the  dungeon  where  I  had 
passed  so  many  wretched  hours  for  weeks  at  a  time. 
The  warden  and  his  deputy  congratulated  me  upon 
my  improved  appearance  and  prospects,  and  hoped 
that  my  whole  future  career  would  be  equally  pros- 
perous. 

Nor  did  I  forget  to  call  upon  my  friend  in  need 
and  friend  indeed  in  the  toll-house  at  the  bridge.  I 
stayed  three  or  four  days  in  Windsor,  finding  it 
really  a  charming  place,  and  I  was  almost  sorry  to 
leave  it.  But  my  only  purpose  in  going  there,  that 
is  to  revisit  the  prison,  was  accomplished,  and  1 
started  for  New  York,  and  went  from  there  to  Port 
Jervis,  where  I  met  my  eldest  son. 


148  SEVEN    WIVE*   AND 


CHAPTER    XII. 

ATTEMPT  TO  KIDNAP  SARAH  SCHEIMER'S  BOY. 

STARTING  TO  SEE  SAKAH — THE  LONG  SEPARATION WHAT  I  LEARNED 

ABOUT      HER — HER     DRUNKEN     HUSBAND — CHANGE    OF    PLAN — A 
SUDDENLY-FORMED    SCHEME — I    FIND    SARAH'S    SON — THE    FIRST 

INTERVIEW — RESOLVE  TO  KIDNAP  THE  BOY REMONSTRANCES  OF 

MY  SON    HENRY — THE  ATTEMPT A    DESPERATE    STRUGGLE — THE 

RESCUE ARREST    OF    HENRY — MY    FLIGHT    INTO    PENNSYLVANIA 

SENDING  ASSISTANCE  TO    MY  SON RETURN    TO  PORT    JERVIS — 

BAILING  HENRY — HIS  RETURN  TO  BELVIDERE HE  IS  BOUND  OVER 

TO  BE  TRIED  FOR  KIDNAPPING — MY  FOLLY. 

After  I  had  been  in  Port  Jervis  three  or  four  days 
I  matured  a. plan  that  had  long  been  forming  in  my 
mind,  and  that  was,  to  try  and  see  Sarah  Scheimer 
once  more,  or  at  least  to  find  out  something  about 
her  and  about  our  son.  The  boy,  if  he  was  living, 
must  be  about  ten  years  of  age.  I  had  never  seen 
him ;  nor,  since  the  night  when  I  was  taken  out  of 
bed  and  carried  to  the  Easton  jail  had  I  ever  seen 
Sarah,  or  even  heard  from  her,  except  by  the  mes- 
sage the  Methodist  minister  brought  to  me  from  her 
the  day  after  I  was  released  from  jail.     In  the  long 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  149 

interval  I  liar!  married  the  Newark  widow,  and  had 
served  a  brief  term  in  the  New  Jersey  State  prison 
for  doing  it ;  I  had  married  Mary  Gordon,  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  had  run  away,  not  only  from  her, 
but  from  constables  and  the  prison  in  that  state ;  the 
mock  marriage  with  the  Rutland  woman  at  Troy, 
and  the  altogether  too  real  marriage  with  the  Mont- 
pelier  milliner  had  followed ;  1  had  spent  three 
wretched  years  in  the  Vermont  prison  at  Windsor ; 
and  numerous  other  exciting  adventures  had  check- 
ered my  career.  What  had  happened  to  Sarah  and 
her  son  during  all  this  while  ?  There  was  not  a 
week  in  the  whole  time  since  our  sudden  separation 
when  I  had  not  thought  of  Sarah;  and  now  I  whs 
near  her  old  home,  with  means  at  my  command,  leis- 
ure on  my  hands,  and  I  was  determined  to  know 
something  about  her  and  the  child. 

So  long  a  time  had  elapsed  and  I  was  so  changed 
in  my  personal  appearance  that  I  had  little  fear  of 
being  recognized  by  any  one  in  Pennsylvania  or  the 
adjoining  part  of  New  Jersey,  who  would  molest  me. 
The  old  matters  must  have  been  pretty  much  tor- 
gotten  by  all  but  the  very  few  who  were  immediately 
interested  in  them.  It  was  safe  to  make  the  ven- 
ture at  all  events,  and  I  resolved  to  make  the  vcn- 

tue  to  see  and  learn  what  1  could. 
•      7 


150  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

I  had  the  idea  in  my  mind  that  if  Sarah  was  alive 
and  well,  and  free,  I  should  be  able  to  induce  her  to 
fulfil  her  promise  to  come  to  me,  and  that  we  might 
go  somewhere  and  settle  down  and  live  happily  to- 
gether. At  any  rate,  I  would  try  to  see  her  and  our 
child. 

I  did  not  communicate  a  word  of  all  this  to  my 
son  Henry.  I  told  him  I  was  going  to  New  Jersey 
to  visit  some  friends,  to  look  for  business,  and  I 
would  like  to  have  him  accompany  me.  He  con- 
sented ;  I  hired  a  horse  and  carriage,  and  one  bright 
morning  we  started.  I  had  no  friends  to  visit,  no 
business  to  do,  except  to  see  Sarah — the  dearest  and 
best-loved  of  all  my  wives. 

When  we  reached  Water  Gap  I  found  an  old  ac- 
quaintance in  the  landlord  of  the  hotel,  and  I  told 
him  where  I  was  going,  and  what  I  hoped  to  do. 
He  knew  the  Scheimers,  knew  all  that  had  happened 
eleven  years  before,  and  he  told  me  that  Sarah  had 
married  again,  seven  years  ago,  and  was  the  mother 
of  two  more  children.  She  lived  on  a  farm,  half  a 
mile  from  Oxford,  and  her  husband  who  had  married 
her  for  her  money,  and  had  been  urged  upon  her  by 
her  parents,  was  a  shiftless,  worthless,  drunken  fel- 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  151 

low.  The  boy — my  boy — was  alive  and  well,  and 
was  with  his  mother. 

This  intelligence  changed,  or  rather  made  definite 
my  plan.  Sarah  was  nothing  to  me  now.  The  boy 
was  everything.  I  must  see  him,  and  if  he  was  what 
he  was  represented  to  be,  a  bright  little  fellow,  I  deter- 
mined that  he  should  no  longer  remain  in  the  hands 
and  under  the  control  of  his  drunken  step-father,  but  I 
would  carry  him  away  with  me  if  1  could.  It  was 
nearly  noon  when  we  arrived  at  Oxford,  and  going 
to  my  old  quarters,  I  found  that  "  Boston  Yankee," 
had  long  since  left  the  place.  There  was  a  new 
landlord,  and  I  saw  no  familiar  faces  about  the  house ; 
all  was  new  and  strange  to  me.  I  made  inquiries, 
and  soon  found  out  that  Sarah's  boy  went  to  a  school 
in  town  not  far  from  the  hotel,  and  I  went  there  to 
"  prospect,"  leaving  Henry  at  the  public  house. 

It  was  noon  now,  and  fifty  or  more  boys  wore 
trooping  out  of  school.  I  carefully  scanned  the 
throng.  The  old  proverb  has  it  that  it  is  a  wise 
•child  who  knows  its  own  father ;  but  it  is  not  so  dif- 
ficult for  a  father  to  know  his  own  children.  The 
moment  I  put  my  eyes  on  Sarah's  son,  I  knew  him  ; 
lie  was  the  very  image  of  me  ;  I  could  have  picked 
him  out  of  a  thousand.     I  beckoned  to  the  boy  and 


152  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

he  came  to  me.  He  was  barefoot  and  his  very  toes 
betrayed  him,  for  they  "  overrode  "  just  as  mine  did  ; 
but  his  face  was  enough  and  would  have  been  evi- 
dence of  his  identity  as  my  son  in  any  court  in 
Christendom. 

"  Do  you  know  me,  my  little  man  ?"  said  I. 

"  No,  Sir,  I  do  not." 

"  Do  you  know  what  was  your  mother's  name  be- 
fore she  was  married  ?" 

"  Yes,  Sir,  it  was  Sarah  Scheimer." 

"  Do  you  know  that  the  man  with  whom  you  live 
is  not  your  father  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  Sir,  I  know  that ;  mother  always  told 
me  so ;  but  she  never  told  me  who  my  father  was." 

"  My  son,"  said  I  taking  him  in  my  arms,  "  I  am 
your  father ;  wait  about  here  a  few  minutes  till  I  can 
go  and  get  my  horse  and  carriage,  and  I  will  take 
you  to  ride." 

I  ran  over  to  the  hotel,  ordered  my  horse  to  be 
brought  to  the  door  at  once,  got  into  the  wagon  with 
Henry  and  told  him  that  Sarah  Scheimer's  boy  was 
just  across  the  way,  and  that  I  was  going  to  carry 
him  off  with  us.  Henry  implored  me  not  to  do  it, 
and  said  it  was  dangerous.  I  never  stopped  to  think 
of  danger  when  my  will  impelled  me.     I  did  not 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  155  j 

know  that  at  that  moment,  men  who  had  noticed  my 
excited  manner,  and  who  knew  I  was  "  up  to  some- 
thing," were  watching  me  from  the  hotel  piazza.  I 
drove  over  where  the  boy  was  waiting,  called  him  to 
me,  and  Henry  held  the  reins  while  I  put  out  my 
hands  to  pull  the  boy  into  the  carriage.  Two  of  the 
men  who  were  watching  me  came  at  once,  one  of 
them  taking  the  horse  by  the  head,  and  the  other 
coining  to  me  and  demanding  : 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  boy  ?" 

"  Take  him  with  me  ;  he  is  my  son." 

"  No  you  don't,"  said  the  man,  and  he  laid  hold 
of  the  boy  and  attempted  to  pull  him  out  of  the 
wagon.  I  also  seized  the  lad  who  began  to  scream. 
In  the  struggle  for  possession,  I  caught  up  the  whip 
and  struck  the  man  with  the  handle,  felling  him  to 
the  ground.  All  the  while  the  other  man  was 
shouting  for  assistance.  The  crowd  gathered.  The 
boy  was  roughly  torn  from  me,  in  spite  of  my  efforts 
to  retain  him.  Henry  was  thoroughly  alarmed  ;  and 
while  the  mob  were  trying  to  pull  us  also  out  of  the 
carriage  he  whipped  the  horse  till  he  sprang  through 
the  crowd  and  was  well  off  in  a  moment. 

"  Get  out  of  town  as  fast  as  you  can  drive,"  said 
I  to  Henry. 


156  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

We  were  not  half  an  hour  in  reaching  Belvidere. 
There  I  stopped  to  breathe  the  horse  a  few  minutes, 
and  Henry  insisted  that  he  was  starving,  and  must 
have  something  to  eat ;  he  would  go  into  the  hotel 
he  said,  and  get  some  dinner.  I  told  him  it  was 
madness  to  do  it ;  but  he  would  not  move  an  inch 
further  on  the  road  till  he  had  some  dinner.  He 
went  into  the  dining  room,  and  I  paced  up  and  down 
the  piazza,  nervous,  anxious,  fearing  pursuit,  dread- 
ing capture,  well  knowing  what  would  happen  when 
those  Jerseymen  should  get  hold  of  me  and  find  out 
who  I  was.  At  that  moment  I  saw  the  pursuers 
coining  rapidly  up  the  road.     I  called  to  my  son : 

"  Henry,  Henry !  for  God's  sake  come  out  her£, 
quick !." 

But  he  thought  I  was  only  trying  to  frighten  him 
so  as  to  hurry  him  away  from  his  dinner,  and  get 
him  on  the  road,  and  he  paid  no  attention  to  my 
summons.  I  knew  that  I  was  the  man  who  was 
wanted,  and,  without  waiting  for  Henry,  I  jumped 
into  my  wagon  and  drove  off.  I  just  escaped,  that's 
all.  The  moment  I  left,  my  pursuers  were  at  the 
door.  I  looked  back  and  saw  them  drag  my  son  out 
of  the  house,  and  take  him  away  with  them.  I 
turned  my  horse's  head  towards  the  Belvidere  Bridge. 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  157 

All  the  country  about  there  was  as  familiar  to  me  as 
the  county  I  was  born  in.  I  knew  every  road,  and  I 
had  no  fear  of  being  caught.  Once  across  the  bridge 
and  in  Pennsylvania,  and  I  was  comparatively  safe, 
unless  I  myself  should  be  kidnapped  as  I  was  at 
midnight,  only  a  little  way  from  this  very  spot,  eleven 
years  before.  Here  was  an  opportunity  now  to  rest 
and  reflect.  Confound  those  Scheimers  and  all  their 
blood !  Was  I  never  to  see  the  end  of  the  scrapes 
that  family  would  get  me  into,  or  which  I  was  to  get 
myself  into,  on  account  of  the  Scheimers  ? 

Surely  they  could  not  harm  Henry.  They  might 
have  taken  him  merely  in  the  hope  of  drawing  me 
back  to  try  to  clear  him,  or  rescue  him,  and  then 
they  would  get  hold  of  the  man  they  wanted.  My 
son  had  done  nothing.  He  did  not  even  know  of 
the  contemplated  abduction  till  five  minutes  before 
it  was  attempted,  and  then  he  protested  against  it. 
He  only  held  the  horse  when  I  pulled  the  lad  into 
the  wagon. 

Nothing  showed  so  completely  the  consciousness  of 
his  own  entire  innocence  in  the  matter,  as  the  coolness 
with  which  he  sat  down  to  his  dinner  in  Belvidere, 
and  insisted  upon  remaining  when  I  warned  him  of 
our  danger.     These  facts  shown,  any  magistrate  be- 


lOO  SEVEN    WIVES   AND 

fore  whom  he  might  be  taken,  must  let  him  go  at 
once.  I  thought,  perhaps,  if  I  waited  a  few  hours 
where  I  was,  he  would  be  sure  to  rejoin  me,  and  we 
could  then  return  to  Port  Jervis  without  Sarah's  son 
to  be  sure ;  but,  otherwise,  no  worse  off  than  we 
were  when  we  set  out  on  this  ill-starred  expedition 
in  the  morning. 

All  this  seemed  so  plain  to  me  that  I  sent  over  to 
Belvidere  for  a  lawyer,  who  soon  came  across  the 
bridge  to  see  me,  and  to  him  I  narrated  the  whole 
circumstances  of  the  case  from  beginning  to  end. 
I  asked  him  if  1  had  not  a  right  to  carry  off  the  boy 
whom  I  knew  to  be  my  own  ?  His  reply  was  that 
he  would  not  stop  to  discuss  that  question ;  all  he 
knew  was  that  there  was  a  great  hue  and  cry  after 
me  for  kidnapping  the  boy  ;  that  my  son  was  seized 
and  held  for  aiding  and  abetting  in  the  attempted 
abduction ;  and  he  advised  me,  as  a  friend,  to  leave 
that  part  of  the  country  as  soon  as  possible.  I  gave 
him  fifty  dollars  to  look  after  Henry's  case.  He 
thought,  considering  how  little,  and  that  little  invol- 
untarily, my  son  had  to  do  with  the  matter,  he  might 
be  got  off ;  he  would  do  all  he  could  for  him  any- 
how. He  then  returned  to  Belvidere,  and  I  took  the 
road  north. 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  159 

"When  I  arrived  at  Port  Jervis  I  detailed  to  my 
landlord  the  whole  occurences  of  the  day — what 
I  had  tried  to  do,  and  how  miserably  I  had  failed, 
and  asked  him  what  was  to  be  done  next.  He  said 
"  nothing ;"  we  could  only  wait  and  see  what  hap- 
pened. 

The  day  following  I  received  a  letter  from  the  Bel- 
videre  lawyer  informing  me  that  Henry  had  been 
examined,  had  been  bound  over  in  the  sum  of  three 
hundred  dollars  to  take  his  trial  on  a  charge  of  kid- 
napping, and  he  was  then  in  the  county  jail.  I  at 
once  showed  this  letter  to  the  landlord,  and  he  offer- 
ed to  go  down  with  another  man  to  Belvidere  and 
see  about  the  bail.  I  gave  him  three  hundred  dol- 
lars which  he  took  with  him  and  put  into  the  hands 
of  a  resident  there  who  became  bail,  and  in  a  day  or 
two  Henry  came  back  with  them  to  Port  Jervis. 

My  son  was  frantic  ;  he  had  been  roughly  treated  ; 
and  to  think,  he  said,  that  he  should  be  thrust  into 
the  common  jail  and  kept  there  two  days  with  all 
sorts  of  scoundrels,  when  he  had  done  actually  noth- 
ing! He  would  go  back  there,  stand  his  trial,  and 
prove  his  innocence,  if  he  died  for  it.  He  reproach- 
ed me  for  attempting  to  cany  off  Ihe  boy  againsl  bis 
advice  and  warning  ;  he  knew  we  should  get  into 


160  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

trouble  ;  but  be  would  sbow  them  that  he  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  it ;  that's  what  he  would  do. 

Now  this  was  precisely  what  I  did  not  wish  to  have' him 
do.  A  trial  of  this  case,  even  if  Henry  should  come 
off  scott  free,  would  be  certain  to  revive  the  whole  of 
the  old  Scheimer  story,  which  had  nearly  died  away, 
and  which  I  had  no  desire  to  have  brought  before 
the  public  again  in  any  way  whatever.  The  bail 
bond  I  was  willing,  eager  even  to  forfeit,  if  that 
would  end  the  matter.  But  Henry  was  sure  they 
couldn't  touch  him,  and  he  meant  to  have  the  three 
hundred  dollars  returned  to  me. 

Seeing  how  sensitive  the  boy  was  on  the  subject, 
and  how  bent  he  was  on  proving  his  innocence,  I 
thought  it  best  to  draw  him  away  from  the  immedi- 
ate locality,  and  so,  in  the  course  of  a  week,  I  per- 
suaded him  to  go  to  New  York  with  me,  and  we  af- 
terward went  to  Maine  for  a  few  weeks  to  sell  my 
medicines.  This  Maine  trip  was  a  most  lucrative 
one,  which  was  very  fortunate,  for  the  money  I  made 
there,  to  the  amount  of  several  hundred  dollars,  was 
shortly  needed  for  purposes  which  I  did  not  anticipate 
when  I  put  the  money  by. 

We  returned  to  New  York,  and  I  supposed  that  Hen- 
ry had  given  up  all  idea  of  attempting  to  "prove  his  in- 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  161 

nocence  ;"  indeed  we  had  no  conversation  about  the 
kidnapping  affair  for  several  weeks.  But  he  slipped 
away  from  me.  One  day  I  came  back  to  the  hotel, 
and,  inquiring  for  him,  was  told  at  the  office  he  had 
left  word  for  me  that  he  had  gone  to  Belvidere.  A 
letter  from  him  a  day  or  two  afterward  confirmed 
this,  to  me,  unhappy  intelligence.  The  time  was 
near  at  hand  for  his  trial,  and  he  had  gone  and  given 
himself  up  to  the  authorities.  He  wrote  to  me  again 
that  he  had  sent  word  about  his  situation  to  his 
mother — my  first  and  worst  wife — and  she  and  his 
sister  were  already  with  him. 

Of  course  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  go  there,  if 
there  were  no  other  reasons,  1  was  too  immediately 
interested  in  this  affair  to  be  present,  and  1  had  no 
idea  of  undergoing  a  trial  and  a  certain  conviction 
for  myself.  But  1  sent  down  a  New  York  lawyer 
with  one  hundred  dollars,  directing  him  to  employ 
council  there,  and  to  advise  and  assist  as  much  as  he 
could.  Meanwhile,  1  remained  in  New  York,  anx- 
ious, it  is  true,  yet  almost  certain  that  it  would  be 
impossible,  under  the  circumstances,  to  convict  Hen- 
ry of  the  -kidnapping  for  which  he  was  indicted. 
He  had  not  even  assisted  in  the  affair,  and  was  sure 


162  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

his  counsel  would  be  able  to  so  convince  the  court 
and  jury. 

And  reviewing  the  whole  matter,  now  in  my  cooler 
moments,  this  scheme  of  trying  to  carry  away  Sarah's 
son,  seemed  to  be  as  foolish,  useless,  and  mad,  as 
any  one  of  my  marrying  adventures.  Till  I  picked 
him  out  from  among  his  schoolmates,  I  had  never 
seen  the  child  at  all.  When  I  started  from  Port 
Jervis  to  go  down,  as  I  supposed,  into  Pennsylvania, 
I  had  no  more  idea  of  kidnapping  the  boy  than  I 
had  of  robbing  a  sheep-fold.  It  was  only  when  the 
landlord  at  Water  Gap  told  me  that  Sarah  had  re- 
married, and  was  wedded  to  a  worthless,  drunken 
husband,  that  I  conceived  the  plan  of  removing  the 
boy  from  such  associations.  I  was  going  to  bring 
him  up  in  a  respectable  manner.  Alas !  I  did  not 
succeed  even  in  bringing  him  away. 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  163 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ANOTHER   WIDOW. 

WAITING     FOR     THE     VERDICT MY    SON    SENT    TO  STATE    PRI80N 

WHAT  SARAH  WOULD  HAVE  DONE — INTERVIEW  WITH  MY  FIRST 
WIFE HELP  FOR  HENRY THE  BIDDEFORD  WIDOW — HER  EF- 
FORT   TO    MARRY    ME — OCR     VISIT     TO     BOSTON A    WARNING A 

GENEROUS    GIFT HENRY    PARDONED CLOSE    OF    THE    8CHEIMER 

ACCOUNT VISIT  TO  ONTARIO  COUNTY MY  RICH  COUSINS— WHAT 

MIGHT    HAVE    BEEN MY    BIRTH-PLACE    REVISITED. 

I  waited  with  nervous  impatience  for  the  close  of 
the  trial  in  New  Jersey,  when  I  hoped  to  welcome 
my  son  Henry  to  New  York.  It  was  so  plain  a  case, 
as  it  seemed  to  me,  and  must  appear,  I  thought,  to 
everybody,  that  I  hardly  doubted  his  instant  acquit- 
tal. But  very  shortly  the  New  York  lawyer  whom  I 
had  sent  to  Belvidere,  came  back  and  brought  terri- 
ble news.  Henry  had  been  tried,  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  fairest  showing  in  his  favor,  he  was  convict- 
ed and  sentenced  to  eighteen  months  imprisonment 
at  Trenton. 

As  it  appeared,  it  was  I  really,  and  not   Henry, 


164  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

who  was  on  trial.  The  circumstances  of  the  despe- 
rate struggle,  and  iny  knocking  down  one  of  the 
men  with  the  butt  of  my  whip,  were  conspicuous  in 
the  case.  Even  the  little  boy  was  put  on  the  stand, 
and  was  made  to  testify  against  his  older  half-broth- 
er. Henry  himself  was  astounded  at  the  result  of 
the  trial,  and  was  firmly  convinced  that  instead  of 
"  proving  his  innocence"  to  Jersey  jurymen,  he  had 
better  have  let  his  innocence  go  by  default.  We 
never  even  got  back  again  the  three  hundred  dollars 
which  had  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  man  who 
went  bail  for  Henry  when  he  was  bound  over  for  trial. 
For  us,  it  was  bad  business  from  beginning  to 
end. 

Henry  wrote  a  letter  to  me,  that  just  before  his 
trial,  before  he  had  delivered  himself  up,  and  while 
he  was  still  under  bail,  he  had  gone  to  see  Sarah 
Scheimer  on  the  little  farm  wliich  was  bought  with 
her  money,  and  was  worked,  so  far  as  it  was  worked 
at  all,  by  her  drunken  husband.  The  family  were 
even  poorer  than  the  landlord  at  Water  Gap  had  re- 
ported. Sarah  herself  was  miserable  and  unhappy. 
She  told  Henry,  when  he  informed  her  who  he  was, 
that  if  I  had  wanted  to  see  her  or  her  son,  I  should 
have  been  welcome.     She  would  have  been  very  glad 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  165 

to  have  had  me  take  the  boy  and  clothe  him  decent- 
ly ;  but  she  could  hot  part  with  him,  and  would  not 
have  let  me  take  him  away  ;  still,  I  could  see  him 
at  any  time,  and  as  often  as  I  liked,  and  the  boy 
should  grow  up  to  know  and  to  look  upon  me  as  his 
father. 

And  this,  really,  was  all  I  desired,  all  I  wanted  ; 
and  it  was  all  easily  within  my  grasp,  ready  in  fact 
to  be  put  into  my  hands,  and  I  had  gone  ahead  in  my 
usual  mad,  blundering  way,  acting,  not  only  without 
advice,  but  against  such  advice  as  came  from  Henry 
at  the  last  moment,  and  had  alienated  the  mother 
from  me,  lost  the  boy,  and  had  sent  Henry,  who 
was  wholly  innocent,  to  state  prison  for  eighteen 
months. 

The  poor  fellow  was  taken  to  Trenton  and  was  put 
into  the  prison  where  I  had  spent  seven  months. 
He  was  almost  crazy  when  he  got  there.  His  moth- 
er and  sister  went  with  him,  and  took  lodgings  in 
the  place  so  as  to  be  near  him,  to  render  him  any 
assistance  that  might  be  in  their  power. 

I  had  been  idle  now  for  some  weeks  in  New  York, 
and  I  went  back  to  Maine,  to  Biddeford,  where  I  had 
a  good  practice.  I  picked  up  a  good  deal  of  money, 
and  in  two  months  I  returned  to  New  York  to  make 


166  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

a  brief  visit,  and  to  see  if  something  could  not  be 
done  for  the  release  of  Henry  from  prison.  At  my 
solicitation  a  friend  of  mine  wrote  to  Trenton  to 
Henry's  mother  to  come  on  to  New  York,  and  meet 
me  at  the  Metropolitan  Hotel  on  a  specified  day,  to 
transact  some  business.  She  came,  and  we  met  for 
the  first  time  in  several  years.  We  met  now  simply 
on  business,  and  there  was  no  expression  of  senti- 
ment or  feeling  on  either  side.  We  cared  nothing 
for  each  other.  I  commended  her  for  her  devotion 
to  Henry,  and  then  told  her  I  believed,  if  the  proper 
efforts  were  made,  he  could  be  pardoned  out  of  pris- 
on. I  told  her  what  lawyer  and  other  persons  to 
see,  and  how  to  proceed  in  the  matter.  I  gave  her 
the  most  minute  instructions,  and  then  handed  her 
five  hundred  dollars  with  which  to  fee  her  lawyer, 
and  to  pay  her  and  her  daughter's  living  expenses 
in  Trenton.  She  was  grateful  for  the  money,  and 
was  only  too  glad  to  go  to  work  for  Henry ;  she 
would  have  done  it  long  ago  if  she  had  only  known 
what  to  do.  We  then  parted,  and  I  have  never  seen 
the  woman  since  that  day. 

This  business  transacted,  I  at  once  returned  to  my 
practice  at  Biddeford.  Among  my  patients  was  a 
wealthy  widow,  "  fat,  fair,  and  forty,"  and  I  had  not 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  167 

attended  her  long  before  a  warm  affection  sprung  up 
between  us,  and  in  time,  when  the  widow  recovered, 
we  began  to  think  we  were  in  love  with  each  other. 
I  confess  that  I  agreed  to  many  her  ;  but  it  was  to 
be  at  some  distant  day — a  very  distant  day  as  I  in- 
tended— for,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  and  as  it  did 
seem  to  me,  I  had  at  last  learned  the  lesson  that  I 
had  better  let  matrimony  alone.  I  had  married  too 
many  wives,  widows,  milliners,  and  what  not,  al- 
ready, and  had  suffered  too  severely  for  so  doing.  I 
meant  that  my  Vermont  imprisonment,  the  worst  of 
all,  should  be  the  last. 

So  I  only  "  courted"  the  widow,  calling  upon  her 
almost  every  day,  and  I  was  received  and  presented 
to  her  acquaintances  as  her  affianced  husband.  Her 
family  and  immediate  friends  were  violently  opposed 
to  the  match,  thereby  showing  their  good  sense.  I 
was  also  informed  that  they  knew  something  of  my 
previous  history,  and  I  was  warned  that  I  had  better 
not  undertake  to  marry  the  widow.  Bless  their  in- 
nocent hearts !  I  had  no  idea  of  doing  it.  I  was 
daily  amazed  at  my  own  common  sense.  My  memo- 
ry was  active  now  ;  all  my  matrimonial  mishaps  of 
the  past,  with  all  the  consequences,  were  ever  pres- 
ent to  my  mind,  and  never  more  present  than  when 


168  SEVEN  WIVES  AND 

I  was  in  the  company  of  the  fascinating  widow.  As  for 
her,  the  more  her  relatives  opposed  the  match,  the 
more  she  was  bent  upon  marrying  me.  Her  family, 
she  said,  were  afraid  they  were  going  to  lose  her 
property,  but  she  would  never  give  them  a  cent  of  it, 
anyhow,  and  she  would  marry  when  and  whom  she 
pleased. 

Not  "  when,"  exactly ;  because,  as  she  protested 
she  would  marry  me,  I  had  something  to  say  about 
it ;  I  had  been  run  away  with  by  a  milliner  in  Ver- 
mont, and  I  had  no  idea  of  being  forcibly  wedded 
by  a  widow  in  Maine.  I  pleaded  that  my  business 
was  not  sufficiently  established ;  I  was  liable  to  be 
called  away  from  time  to  time  ;  I  had  affairs  to  ar- 
range in  New  York  and  elsewhere  before  I  could 
settle  down ;  and  so  the  happy  day  was  put  off  to  an 
indefinite  future  time. 

By-and-by  I  had  business  in  Boston,  and  the  wid- 
ow declared  that  she  would  go  with  me  ;  she  wanted 
to  visit  her  friends  there  and  do  some  shopping  ;  and 
without  making  particular  mention  of  her  intention 
to  her  relatives,  she  went  with  me,  and  we  were  in 
Boston  together  more  than  two  weeks.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  she  returned  to  Biddeford  and  notified 
all  her  friends  that  she  was  married  to  the  doctor. 


SEVEN  PRISONS.  169 

though  she  had  no  certificate,  not  even  a  Troy  one, 
to  show  for  it. 

I  deemed  it  advisable  not  to  go  hack  with  her,  but 
went  to  Worcester  for  a  while.  In  a  few  days  I 
went  to  Biddeford,  keeping  somewhat  close,  for  I  did 
not  care  to  meet  any  of  the  relatives,  and  at  night  I 
called  upon  the  widow.  She  told  me  that  her  family 
had  raised  a  tremendous  fuss  about  me,  and  had 
learned  as  much  as  they,  and  indeed  she,  wanted  to 
know  about  my  adventures  in  Vermont  and  New 
Hampshire.  They  had  not  gone  back  of  that,  but 
that  was  enough.  It  was  dangerous,  she  told  me, 
for  me  to  stay  there  ;  I  was  sure  to  be  arrested ;  I 
had  better  get  away  from  the  place  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. We  might  meet  again  by-and-by,  but  unless 
I  wanted  to  be  arrested  I  must  leave  the  place  that 
very  night.  She  gave  me  seven  hundred  dollars, 
pressed  the  money  upon  me,  and  I  parted  from  her, 
returning  to  Worcester,  and  going  from  there  to 
Boston.  Besides  what  the  widow  had  given  me,  I 
had  made  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  in  Maine, 
and  was  comparatively  well  off. 

Then  came  the  joyful  intelligence  that  Henry  was 
released.  His  mother  had  worked  for  him  night  and 
day.     She  had  drawn  up  a  petition,  secured  a  large 


170  SEVEN    WIVES   AND 

number  of  sterling  signatures,  had  gone  with  her 
counsel  to  see  the  Governor,  had  presented  the  peti- 
tion and  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  the  Governor 
had  granted  a  pardon.  Henry  served  only  six 
months  of  the  eighteen  for  which  he  was  sentenced, 
and  very  soon  after  I  received  word  that  he  was  free, 
he  came  to  me  in  Boston,  stayed  a  few  days,  and  then 
went  home  to  his  mother  in  Unadilla. 

With  the  release  of  my  son,  I  considered  the 
Scheimer  account  closed,  and  I  have  never  made 
any  effort  to  see  Sarah  or  our  boy  since  that  time. 

From  Boston  I  went  to  Pittsford,  Ontario  County, 
N.  Y.,  where  1  had  many  friends,  who  knew  nothing 
about  any  of  my  marriages  or  misfortunes,  my  arrests 
or  imprisonments.  I  went  visiting  merely,  and  en- 
joyed myself  so  much  that  I  stayed  there  nearly 
three  months,  going  about  the  country,  and  prac- 
ticing a  little  among  my  friends.  I  was  never  hap- 
pier than  I  was  during  this  time.  I  was  free  from 
prisons,  free  from  my  wives,  and  free  from  care.  As 
a  matrimonial  monomaniac  I  now  looked  upon  my- 
self as  cured. 

Among  the  friends  whom  I  visited  in  Ontario 
County,  and  with  whom  I  passed  several  pleasant 
weeks ,  were  two  cousins   of  mine  whom  I  had  not 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  171 

seen  for  many  years,  since  we  were  children  in  fact, 
but  who  gave  me  a  most  cordial  welcome,  and  made 
much  of  me  while  I  was  there.  They  knew  absolutely 
nothing  of  my  unhappy  history — no  unpleasant  ru- 
mor even  respecting  me,  had  ever  penetrated  that 
quiet  quarter  of  the  State.  I  told  them  what  I 
pleased  of  my  past  career,  from  boyhood  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  and  to  them  I  was  only  a  tolerably  suc- 
cessful doctor,  who  made  money  enough  to  live  de- 
cently and  dress  well,  and  who  was  then  suffering 
from  overwork  and  badly  in  need  of  recuperation. 
This,  indeed,  was  the  ostensible  reason  for  my  visit 
to  Ontario.  1  was  somewhat  shattered ;  my  old  pris- 
on trials  and  troubles  began  to  tell  upon  me-.  I  used 
to  think  sometimes  that  I  'was  a  little  "  out  of  my 
head  ;"  I  certainly  was  so  whenever  I  entered  upon 
one  of  my  matrimonial  schemes,  and  I  must  have 
been  as  mad  as  a  March  hare  when  I  attempted  to 
kidnap  Sarah  Scheimer's  boy.  After  all  the  excite- 
ment and  suffering  of  the  past  few  years,  I  needed 
rest,  and  here  I  found  it. 

My  cousins  were  more  than  well-to-do  farmers; 
they  were  enormously  rich  in  lands  and  money. 
Just  after  the  war  of  1812,  their  father,  my  uncle, 
and  my  own  father,  had  come  to  this,  then  wild  and 


172  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

almost  uninhabited,  section  of  the  State  to  settle. 
Soon  after  they  arrived  there  my  father's  wife  died, 
and  this  loss,  with  the  general  loneliness  of  the  re- 
gion, to  say  nothing  of  the  fever  and  ague,  soon 
drove  my  father  back  to  Delaware  County  to  his 
forge  for  a  living,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death  he 
was  nothing  more  than  a  hard-working,  hand-to" 
mouth-living,  common  blacksmith. 

But  my  uncle  stayed  there,  and,  as  time  went  on, 
he  bought  hundreds  of  acres  of  land  for  a  mere  song, 
which  were  now  immensely  valuable,  and  had  made 
his  children  almost  the  richest  people  in  that  region. 
My  cousins  were  great  farmers,  extensive  raisers  of 
stock,  wool-growers,  and  everything  else  that  could 
make  them  prosperous.  There  seemed  to  be  no  end 
to  their  wealth,  and  their  fat  farms  spread  out  on 
every  side  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see. 

And  if  my  father  had  only  stayed  there,  I  could 
not  help  but  think  what  a  different  life  mine  might 
have  been.  Instead  of  being  the  adventurer  I  was, 
and  had  been  ever  since  I  separated  from  my  first 
and  worst  wife — doing  well,  perhaps,  for  a  few  weeks 
or  a  few  months,  and  then  blundering  into  a  mad 
marriage  or  other  difficulty  which  got  me  into 
prison  ;  well-to-do  to-day  and  to-morrow  a  beggar — 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  173 

I,  too,  might  have  been  rich  and  respectable,  and 
should  have  saved  myself  a  world  of  suffering. 
This  was  but  a  passing  thought  which  did  not  mar 
my  visit,  or  make  it  less  pleasant  to  me.  I  went 
there  to  be  happy,  not  to  be  miserable,  and  for  three 
months  I  was  happy  indeed. 

From  there  I  went  to  my  birth-place  in  Columbia 
County,  revisiting  old  scenes  and  the  very  few  old 
friends  and  acquaintances  who  survived,  or  who  had 
not  moved  away.  I  spent  a  month  there  and  there- 
abouts, and  at  the  end  of  that  time  I  felt  full  yre- 
stored  to  my  usual  good  health,  and  was  ready  to 
go  to  work  again,  not  in  the  matrimonial  way,  but 
in  my  medical  business,  that  was  enough  for  me 
now. 


174  SEVEN    WIVES   AND 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

MY  OWN   SON   TRIES   TO    MURDER  ME. 

SETTLING  DOWN  IN  MAINE HENRY'S  HEALTH TOUR  THROUGH  THE 

SOUTH — SECESSION     TIMES — DECEMBER    IN      NEW     ORLEANS CP 

THE  MISSISSIPPI — LEAVING  HENRY  IN  MASSACHUSETTS — BACK  IN 
MAINE  AGAIN RETURN  TO  BOSTON PROFITABLE  HORSE  TRAD- 
ING  PLENTY    OF    MONEY — MY     FIRST     WIFE'S    CHILDREN HOW 

THEY  HAD  BEEN  BROUGHT  UP — A  BAREFACED  ROBBERY — AT- 
TEMPT TO  BLACKMAIL  ME — MY  SON  TRIES  TO  ROB  AND  KILL  ME 
MY  RESCUE LAST  OF  THE  YOUNG  MAN. 

Where  to  go,  not  what  to  do,  was  the  next  ques- 
tion. Wherever  I  might  go  and  establish  myself,  if 
only  for  a  few  days,  or  a  few  weeks,  I  was  sure  to 
have  almost  immediately  plenty  of  patients  and 
customers  enough  for  my  medicines — this  had  been 
my  experience  always — and  unfortunately  for  me,  I 
was  almost  equally  sure  to  get  into  some  difficulty 
from  which  escape  was  not  always  easy.  Looking 
over  the  whole  ground  for  a  fresh  start  in  business, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  Maine  was  the  most  favorable 
place.     Whenever  I  had  been  there  I  had  done  well ; 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  175 

it  was  one  of  the  very  few  States  I  had  lived  in 
where  I  had  not  been  in  jail  or  in  prison ;  nor  had  I 
been  married  there,  though  the  Biddeford  widow 
did  her  best  to  wed  me,  and  it  is  not  her  fault  that 
she  did  not  succeed  in  doing  it. 

To  Maine,  then,  I  went,  settling  down  in  Augusta, 
and  remaining  there  four  months,  during  which  time 
I  had  as  much  as  I  could  possibly  attend  to,  and 
laid  by  a  very  considerable  sum  of  money.  While 
I  was  there  I  heard  the  most  unfavorable  reports 
with  regard  to  the  health  of  my  eldest  son  Henry. 
Prison  life  at  Trenton  had  broken  him  down  in  body 
as  well  as  in  spirit,  and  he  had  been  ill,  some  of  the 
time  seriously,  nearly  all  the  time  since  he  went  to 
Unadilla.  The  fact  that  he  was  entirely  innocent 
of  the  offence  for  which  he  was  imprisoned,  preyed 
upon  his  mind,  and  with  the  worst  results.  As  these 
stories  reached  me  from  week  to  week,  I  became 
anxious  and  even  alarmed  about  him,  and  at  last 
I  left  my  lucrative  business  in  Augusta  and  went  to 
New  York.  I  could  not  well  go  to  Unadilla  to  visit 
Henry  without  seeing  his  mother,  whom  I  had  no 
desire  to  see  ;  so  I  sent  for  him  to  come  to  me  in  the 
city  if  was  able  to  do  so.     I  knew  that  if  medicine 

8 


176  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

or  medical  attendance  would  benefit  him,  I  should 
be  able  to  help  him. 

In  a  few  days  he  came  to  me  in  a  most  deplorable 
physical  condition.  He  was  a  mere  wreck  of  his 
former  self.  Almost  immediately  he  began  to  talk 
about  the  attempt  to  abduct  the  boy  from  Oxford ; 
how  innocent  he  was  in  the  matter,  and  how  terribly 
he  had  suffered  merely  because  he  happened  to  be 
with  me  when  I  rashly  endeavored  to  kidnap"  the  lad. 
All  this  went  through  me  like  a  sharp  sword.  It 
seemed  as  if  I  was  the  cause,  not  only  of  great  un- 
happiness  to  myself,  but  of  pain  and  misery  to  all 
who  were  associated  or  brought  in  contact  with  me. 
-For  this  poor  boy,  who  had  endured  and  suffered  so 
much  on  my  account,  I  could  not  do  enough.  My 
means  and  time  must  now  be  devoted  to  his  recov- 
ery, if  recovery  was  possible. 

He  was  weak,  but  was  still  able  to  walk  about, 
and  he  enjoyed  riding  very  much.  I  kept  him  with 
me  in  the  city  a  week  or  two,  taking  daily  rides  to 
the  Park  and  into  the  country,  and  when  he  felt  like 
going  out  in  the  evening  I  made  him  go  to  some 
place  of  amusement  with  me.  I  had  no  other  busi- 
ness,  and  meant  to  have  none,  but  to  take  care  of 
Henry,  and  I  devoted  myself  wholly  to  his  comfort 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  17  < 

and  happiness.  In  a  few  clays  he  had  much  im- 
proved in  health  and  spirits,  so  much  so  that  I  med- 
itated making  a  long  tour  with  him  to  the  South, 
hoping  that  the  journey  there  and  back  again  would 
fully  restore  him. 

Fortunately,  my  recent  Maine  business  had  put 
me  in  possession  of  abundant  funds,  and  when  I  had 
matured  my  scheme,  and  saw  that  Henry  was  in 
tolerable  condition  to  travel,  I  proposed  the  trip  to 
him,  and  he  joyfully  assented  to  my  plan.  I  wanted 
to  get  him  far  away,  for  awhile,  from  a  part  of  the 
country  which  was  associated  in  his  mind,  more  than 
in  mine,  with  so  much  misery,  and  he  seemed  quite 
as  eager  to  go.  Change  of  air  and  scene  I  knew 
would  do  wonders  for  him  bodily,  and  would  build 
him  up  again. 

We  made  our  preparations  and  started  for  the 
South,  going  first  to  Baltimore  and  then  on  through 
the  Southern  States  by  railroad  to  New  Orleans.  It 
was  late  in  the  fall  of  1860,  just  before  the  rebellion, 
when  the  south  was  seceding  or  talking  secession, 
and  was  already  preparing  for  war.  Henry's  physi- 
cal condition  compelled  us  to  rest  frequently  on  the 
way,  and  we  stopped  sometimes  for  two  or  three  d;i\  s 
at  a  time,  at  nearly  every  large  town  or  city  on  the 


178  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

entire  route.  Everywhere  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
excitement ;  meetings  were  held  nearly  every  night ; 
secession  was  at  fever  heat,  and  there  was  an  un- 
bounded expression  and  manifestation  of  ill-feeling 
against  the  north  and  against  northern  men.  Nev- 
ertheless, I  was  never  in  any  part  of  the  Union 
where  I  was  treated  with  so  much  courtesy,  consid- 
eration, and  genuine  kindness  as  I  was  there  and 
then.  I  was  going  south  simply  to  benefit  the 
invalid  who  accompanied  me  ;  everybody  seemed 
to  know  it ;  and  everybody  expressed  the  tender- 
est  sympathy  for  my  son.  Wherever  we  stopped, 
it  seemed  as  if  the  people  at  the  hotels,  from 
the  landlord  to  the  lowest  servant,  could  not  do 
enough  for  us.  At  Atlanta,  Augusta,  Mobile,  and 
other  places, .  where  we  made  our  stay  long 
enough  to  get  a  little  acquainted,  my  son  and  my- 
self were  daily  taken  out  to  ride,  and  were  shown 
everything  of  interest  that  was  to  be  seen.  Henry 
did  not  enjoy  this  journey  more  than  I  did — to  me 
as  well  as  to  him,  the  trip  was  one  prolonged  pleas- 
ure, and  by  the  time  we  reached  New  Orleans  near- 
ly a  month  after  we  left  New  York,  my  son  had  so 
recuperated  that  I  had  every  hope  of  his  speedy  and 
full  restoration. 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  179 

It  was  the  beginning  of  winter  when  we  reached 
New  Orleans  ;  but  during  the  whole  month  of  De- 
cember while  we  remained  in  that  city,  winter,  if 
indeed  it  was  winter,  which  we  could  hardly  believe, 
was  only  a  prolongation  of  the  last  beautiful  autumn 
days  we  had  left  at  the  north.  New  Orleans  was 
then  at  the  very  height  of  prosperity ;  business  was 
brisk,  money  was  plenty,  the  ships  of  all  nations 
and  countless  steamboats  from  St.  Louis*  Cincinnati, 
Louisville  and  all  points  up  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 
rivers  lay  at  the  levee.  The  levee  itself,  from  end 
to  end,  for  miles  along  the  river  front,  was  one  mass 
of  merchandise  which  had  come  to  the  city,  or  was 
awaiting  shipment.  I  had  never  seen  a  livelier  city. 
Indescribably  gay,  too,  was  New  Orleans  that  winter. 
The  city  was  full  of  strangers ;  the  hotels  were 
thronged  ;  there  were  balls  every,  night ;  the  theatres 
were  crowded,  and  everybody  seemed  bent  on  hav- 
ing a  good  time.  With  all  the  rest,  there  was  an 
extraordinary  military  furor,  and  militia  companies 
and  regiments  paraded  the  streets  every  day,  while 
secession  meetings  were  held  in  various  halls,  or  in 
the  public  squares,  nearly  ever  night. 

From  the  St.  Charles  hotel  where  we  stopped,  St. 
Charles  street  seemed  ablaze  and  alive  all  night,  and 


180  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

densely  thronged  all  day.  Sunday  brought  no  rest, 
for  Sunday,  so  far  as  military  parades,  amusement 
and  general  gaiety  were  concerned,  was  the  liveliest 
day  in  the  week ;  and  Sunday  night  the  theatres 
were  sure  to  present  their  best  performances  and  to 
draw  their  largest  audiences.  And  so,  from  morn- 
ing till  night,  and  from  night  till  morning  again,  all. 
was  whirl,  stir,  bustle,  business,  enjoyment,  and  ex- 
citement. To  me,  unaccustomed  as  I  was  to  such 
scenes,  New  York  even  seemed  tame  and  dull,  and 
slow  in  comparison  with  New  Orleans. 

This  is  a  picture  of  the  Crescent  City  as  it  pre- 
sented itself  to  me  and  to  my  son  in  the  early  part 
of  the  winter  before  the  war.  No  one  knew  or  even 
dreamed  of  the  terrible  times  that  were  to  come. 
No  one  believed  that  war  was  probable,  or  even  pos- 
sible; it  was  well  enouglu,  perhaps,  to  prepare  for  it; 
but  secession  was  to  be  an  accomplished  fact,  and 
the  North  and  all  the  world  would  quietly  acknowl- 
edge it.  This  was  the  general  sentiment  in  the  city ; 
though  secession,  and  what  would,  or  what  might 
come  of  it,  was  the  general  topic  of  talk  in  the  hotels, 
in  the  restaurants,  at  the  theatres,  in  the  streets, 
everywhere.  Now  and  then  some  southerner  with 
whom  I  had  become  acquainted  would  try  to  draw 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  181 

me  out  to  ascertain  my  sentiments  on  the  subject, 
but  1  always  laughed,  and  said  good  naturedly  : 

"  My  dear  sir,  I  didn't  come  down  here  to  talk 
about  secession,  but  to  see  if  the  southern  climate 
would  benefit  my  sick  son." 

The  fact  was  that  I  minded  my  own  business,  and 
minded  it  so  well  that  while  I  was  in  New  Orleans 
I  managed  to  find  a  few  patients  and  sold  recipes 
and  medicines  enough  to  pay  the  entire  expenses  of 
our  journey  thus  far,  from  the  North. 

Almost  every  day  my  son  and  I  drove  somewhere 
— up  to  Carrolton,  down  to  the  battle-ground,  or  on 
the  shell  road  to  Lake  Ponchartrain.  It  was  a 
month  of  genuine  enjoyment  to  us  both ;  of  profit 
to  me  pecuniarily ;  and  of  the  best  possible  benefit 
to  Henry's  health. 

Early  in  January  we  took  passage  on  one  of  the 
finest  of  the  Mississippi  steamboats  for  St.  Louis. 
The  boat  was  crowded,  and  among  the  passengers 
were  a  good  many  merchants,  Northern  men  long 
resident  in  New  Orleans,  who  thought  they  saw 
trouble  coming,  and  accordingly  had  closed  up  their 
business  in  the  Crescent  City,  and  were  now  going 
North  to  stay  there.  We  had  on  board,  too,  the 
usual  complement  of  gamblers  and  amateur  or  pro- 


182  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

fcssional  poker-players,  who  kept  the  forward  saloon 
near  the  bar,  and  known  in  the  river  vernacular  as 
the  "Texas"  of  the  boat,  lively  all  day  long  and  well 
into  the  night,  or  rather  the  next  morning.  It  was 
ten  or  eleven  days  before  we  reached  St.  Louis. 
Nothing  notable  occurred  on  the  trip ;  but  day  after 
day,  as  we  proceeded  northward,  and  left  the  soft, 
sunny  south  behind  us,  with  the  daily  increasing 
coldness  and  wintry  weather,  Henry  seemed  to  de- 
cline by  degrees,  and  gradually  to  lose  nearly  all 
that  he  had  gained  since  we  left  New  York.  When 
we  reached  St.  Louis  he  was  seriously  sick.  I  was 
very  sorry  we  had  come  away  so  soon  in  the  seaspn, 
and  proposed  that  we  should  return  and  stay  in  the 
south  till  spring ;  but  Henry  would  not  consent. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done,  then,  but  to  hurry 
on  to  the  east,  and  when  we  arrived  in  New  York 
Henry  would  not  go  home  to  his  mother  in  Unadilla, 
but  insisted  upon  accompanying  me  to  Boston.  I 
was  willing,  enough  that  he  should  go  with  me,  for 
then  I  could  have  him  under  my  exclusive  care  ;  but 
when  we  arrived  in  Boston  he  was  so  overcome  by 
the  excitement  of  travel,  and  was  so  feeble^  from 
fatigue  as  well  as  disease,  that  instead  of  having 
him  go  with  me  to  Augusta,  as  I  intended,  by  the 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  183 

advice  of  a  friend  I  took  him  into  the  country  where 
he  could  be  nursed,  be  quiet,  and  be  well  taken  care 
of  till  spring.  I  left  him  in  good  hands,  promising 
to  come  and  see  him  as  soon  as  I  could,  and  then 
went  back  to  my  old  business  in  Augusta. 

It  required  a  little  time  to  knot  the  new  end  of 
that  business  to  the  end  where  I  had  broken  off,  three 
months  before  ;  but  1  was  soon  in  full  practice  again 
and  was  once  more  making  and  saving  money.  1 
had  no  matrimonial  affair  in  hand,  no  temptation  in 
fact,  and  none  but  strictly  professional  engagements 
to  fulfil.  In  Augusta  and  in  several  other  towns 
which  I  visited,  for  the  whole  of  the  rest  of  the 
winter,  I  was  as  busy  as  I  could  be.  Early  in  the 
spring  I  made  up  my  mind  to  run  away  for  a  week 
or  two,  and  arranged  my  business  so  that  I  could  go 
down  into  Massachusetts  and  visit  Henry,  hoping,  if 
he  was  better,  to  bring  him  back  with  me  to  Maine. 

Two  of  my  patients  in  Paris,  Maine,  had  each 
given  me  a  good  horse  in  payment  for  my  attendance 
upon  them  and  their  families,  and  for  what  medi- 
cines I  had  furnished,  and  I  took  these  horses  with 
me  to  sell  in  Boston.  I  drove  them  down,  putting 
a  good  supply  of  medicines  in  my  wagon  to  sell  in 
towns  on  the  way,  and  when  1  arrived  in  Boston  I 


184  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

sold  out  the  establishment,  getting  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  for  the  wagon,  three  hundred  dol- 
lars for  one  horse,  and  four  hundred  dollars  for  the 
other — a  pretty  good  profit  on  my  time  and  medi- 
cine for  the  two  patients — and  I  brought  with  me 
besides  about  eighteen  hundred  dollars,  the  net  re- 
sult, above  my  living  expenses,  of  about  three 
months'  business  in  Maine,  and  what  I  had  dene  on 
the  way  down  through  Massachusetts.  I  am  thus 
mmute  about  this  money  because  it  now  devolves 
upon  me  to  show  what  sort  of  a  family  of  children 
my  first  and  worst  wife  had  brought  up. 

Of  these  children  by  my  first  marriage,  my  eldest 
son  Henry,  since  he  had  grown  up,  had  been  with 
me  nearly  as  much  as  he  had  been  with  his  mother, 
and  I  loved  him  as  I  did  my  life.  Since  he  became 
of  age,  at  such  times  when  I  was  not  in  prison,  or 
otherwise  unavoidably  separated  from  him,  we  had 
been  associated  in  business,  and  had  traveled  and 
lived  together.  I  knew  all  about  him ;  but  of  the 
rest  of  the  children  I  knew  next  to  nothing.  Short- 
ly after  I  sold  my  horses,  one  day  I  was  in  my  room 
at  the  hotel,  when  word  was  brought  to  me  that 
some  one  in  the  parlor  wanted  to  see  me. 

I  went  down  and  found  a  young  man,  about  twen- 


seven  prisons:  185 

ty-one  years  of  age,  who  immediately  came  to  me 
addressing  me  as  "  father,"  and  he  then  presented 
a  young  woman,  about  two  years  older  than  he  was, 
as  his  sister  and  my  daughter.  I  had  not  seen  this 
young  gentleman  since  the  time  when  I  had  carried 
him  off'  from  school  and  from  the  farmer  to  whom 
lie  was  bound,  and  had  clothed  him  and  taken  him 
with  me  to  Amsterdam  and  Troy,  subsequently  send- 
ing him  to  my  half-sister  at  Sidney.  The  ragged 
little  lad,  as  1  found  him,  had  grown  up  into  a  stout, 
good-looking  young  man  ;  but  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
recognizing  him,  though  I  was  much  at  loss  to  know 
the  precise  object  of  this  visit ;  so  after  shaking 
hands  with  them,  and  asking  them  how  they  were, 
I  next  inquired  what  they  wanted  ? 

Well,  they  had  been  to  sec  Henry,  and  he  was  a 
great  deal  better.- 

I  told  them  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  it,  and  that 
I  was  then  on  my  way  to  visit  him,  and  hoped  to 
see  him  in  a  few  days,  as  soon  as  I  could  finish  my 
business  in  Boston ;  if  Henry  was  as  well  as  they 
reported  I  should  bring  him  away  with  me. 

"But  if  you  are  busy  here,"  said  my  young  man, 
"  we  can  save  you  both  time  and  trouble.  We  will 
go  to  Henry  again  and  settle  his  bills  for  board  and 


186  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

other  expenses,  and  will  bring  him  with  us  to  you  at 
this  hotel." 

This,  at  the  time,  really  seemed  to  me  a  kindly 
offer ;  it  would  enable  me  to  stay  in  Boston  and  at- 
tend to  business  I  had  to  do,  and  Henry  would  come 
there  with  his  brother  and  sister  in  a  day  or  two. 
I  at  once  assented  to  the  plan,  and  taking  my  Avell- 
filled  pocket-book  from  the  inside  breast  pocket  of 
my  coat,  I  counted  out  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
and  gave  them  to  the  young  man  to  pay  Henry's 
board,  doctor's  and  other  bills,  and  the  necessary 
car  fares  for  the  party.  They  then  left  me  and 
started,  as  I  supposed,  to  go  after  Henry. 

But  a  few  days  went  on  and  I  saw  and  heard  noth- 
ing of  Henry.  At  last  word  came  to  me  one  day 
that  some  one  down  stairs  wanted  to  see  me  and  I 
told  the  servant  to  send  him  to  my  room,  hoping 
that  it  might  be  Henry.  But  no  ;  it  was  my  young 
man,  of  whom  I  instantly  demanded  : 

"  Where  is  your  brother,  whom  you  were  to  bring 
to  me  a  week  ago  ?  What  have  you  done  with  the 
money  I  gave  you  for  his  bills  ?" 

"  I  havn't  been  near  Henry ;  sister  has  gone 
home ;  and  I've  spent  the  money  on  a  spree,  every 
cent  of  it,  here  in  Boston,  and  I  want  more." 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  187 

"  Want  more !"  I  exclaimed  in  blank  amaze- 
ment : 

"  Yes,  more  ;  and  if  you  don't  give  it  to  me,  I'll 
follow  you  wherever  you  go,  and.  tell  people  all  I 
know  about  you." 

"  You  scoundrel,"  said  I,  "  you  come  here  and 
rob,  not  me,  but  your  poor,  sick  brother,  and  then 
return  and  attempt  to  black-mail  me.  Get  out  of 
my  sight  this  instant." 

He  sprung  on  me,  and  made  a  desperate  effort  to 
get  my  money  out  of  my  pocket.  We  had  a  terri- 
ble struggle.  He  was  younger  and  stronger  than  I 
was,  and  as  I  felt  that  I  was  growing  weaker  I 
called  out  loudly  for  help  and  shouted  "  Murder !" 

The  landlord  himself  came  running  into  the  room  ; 
I  succeeded  in  tearing  myself  away  from  the  grasp 
of  my  assailant,  and  the  landlord  felled  him  to  the 
floor  with  a  chair.  He  then  ran  to  the  door  and 
called  to  a  servant  to  bring  a  policeman. 

"  No,  don't !"  I  exclaimed  ;  "  Don't  arrest  the 
villain,  for  I  can  mal^e  no  complaint  against  him — 
he  is  my  son !" 

But  the  landlord  was  bound  to  have  some  satisfac- 
tion out  of  the  affair ;  so  he  dragged  the  young  man 
into  the  hall  and  kicked   him  from  the  top  of  the 


188  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

stairs  to  the  bottom,  where,  as  soon  as  he  had  picked 
himself  up,  a  convenient  servant  kicked  him  out  into 
the  street.  I  have  never  set  eyes  on  my  young  man 
since  his  somewhat  sudden  departure  from  that 
hotel. 

And  when  I  went  to  visit  my  poor  Henry  a  day 
or  two  afterwards,  I  can  hardly  say  that  I  was  sur- 
prised, though  I  was  indignant  to  learn  that  his 
brother  and  sister  had  never  been  near  him  at  all 
since  he  had  been  in  Massachusetts.  They  knew 
where  and  how  he  was  from  his  letters  to  his  mother ; 
they  knew,  too,  from  the  same  letters — for  I  had 
notified  Henry — at  what  time  I  would  be  in  Boston, 
and  with  this  information  they  had  come  on  to  swin- 
dle me.  I  have  no  doubt,  when  the  young  man  came 
the  second  time  to  rob  me,  he  would  have  murdered 
me,  if  the  landlord  had  not  come  to  my  assistance. 
And  this  was  the  youngest  son  of  my  first  and  worst 

wife ! 

I  found  Henry  in  better  condition  than  I  expected, 

and  I  took  him  back  with  me  to  Augusta.  I  did 
not  tell  him  of  his  brother's  attempt  to  rob  and  kill 
me — it  would  have  been  too  great  a  shock  for  him. 
lie  stayed  with  me  only  a  few  days  and  then,  com- 
plaining of  being  homesick,  he  went  to  visit  his 
mother  again. 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  189 


CHAPTER    XV. 

A  TRUE  WIFE  AND  HOME,  AT  LAST. 

WHERE  WERE  ALL    MY  WIVE8  1 — SENSE    OF    SECURITY — AN    IMPRU- 
DENT ACQUAINTANCE — MOVING  FROM    MAINE MY    PROPERTY    IN 

RENSSELAER      COUNTY HOW      I      LIVED — SELLING     A      RECIPE 

AHOIT  BUYING    A  CARPET NINETEEN     LAW-SUITS SUDDEN    DE- 
PARTURE   FOR    THE  WEST — A  VAGABOND    FOR    TWO  YEARS LIFE 

IN  CALIFORNIA — RETURN  TO  THE  EAST DIVORCE  FROM  MY  FIRST 

WIFE A  GENUINE  MARRIAGE — MY  FARM HOME  AT  LAST. 

I  remained  in  Maine  nearly  two  years,  hardly  ever 
going  out  of  the  State,  except  occasionally  to  Bos- 
ton on  business.  Making  Augusta  my  residence  and 
headquarters,  I  practiced  in  Portland  and  in  nearly 
all  the  towns  and  cities  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
State.  During  all  this  time,  I  behaved  myself,  in 
all  respects  better  than  I  had  ever  before  done  in 
any  period  of  my  life.  I  began  to  look  upon  myself 
as  a  reformed  man  ;  I  had  learned  to  let  liquor  alone, 
and  was  consequently  in  far  less,  indeed  next  to  no 
danger  of  stepping  into  the  traps  in  which  my  feet 
had  been  so  often  caught.     I  may  as  well  confess  it 


190  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

— it  was  intoxicating  liquor,  and  that  mainly,  which 
had  led  me  into  my  various  mad  marrying  schemes, 
and  made  me  the  matrimonial  monomaniac  and  lu- 
natic lover  that  I  was  for  years.  What  my  folly, 
my  insanity  caused  me  to  suffer,  these  pages  have 
attempted  to  portray.  I  had  grown  older,  wiser,  and 
certainly  better.  I  now  only  devoted  myself  strictly 
to  my  business,  and  I  found  profit  as  well  as  pleas- 
ure in  doing  it. 

What  had  become  of  all  my  wives  in  the  mean 
time,  I  scarcely  knew  and  hardly  cared.  Of  course 
from  time  to  time  I  had  heard  more  or  less  about 
them — at  least,  a  rumor  of  some  sort  now  and  then 
reached  me.  About  my  first  and  worst  wife,  at  in- 
tervals I  heard  something  from  Henry,  who  was  still 
with  her,  and  who  frequently  wrote  to  me  when  he 
was  well  enough  to  do  so.  Margaret  Bradley  and 
Eliza  Gurnsey  were  still  carrying  on  the  millinery 
business  in  Rutland,  and  in  Montpelier,  and  were 
no  doubt  weaving  other  and  new  webs  in  hopes  of 
catching  fresh  flies.  Mary  Gordon,  as  I  learned  soon 
afterwards,  was»  married  almost  before  I  had  fairly 
escaped  from  New  Hampshire  in  my  flight  to  Can- 
ada, and  she  had  gone  to  California  with  her  new 
husband.      Of  the  Newark  widow  I  knew  nothing ; 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  191 

but  two  years  of  peace,  quiet,  and  freedom  from 
molestation  in  Maine  had  made  me  feel  quite  secure 
against  any  present  or  future  trouble  from  my  past 
matrimonial  misadventures. 

I  was  living  in  Maine,  prudently  I  think  under  an 
assumed  name,  and  as  the  respectable,  and,  to  my 
patients  and  customers,  well-known  Doctor  Blank, 
I  was  scarcely  liable  to  be  recognized  at  any  time  or 
by  any  one  as  the  man  who  had  married  so  many 
wives,  been  in  so  many  jails  and  prisons,  and  whose 
exploits  had  been  detailed  from  time  to  time  in  the 
papers. 

Nor,  all  this  while,  did  I  have  the  slightest  fear  of 
detection.  I  looked  upon  myself  as  a  victim  rather 
than  as  a  criminal,  and  for  what  I  had  done,  and 
much  that  1  had  not  done,  I  had  more  than  paid  the 
penalty.  So  far  as  all  my  business  transactions 
were  concerned,  my  course  had  always  b.een  honora- 
ble, and  in  my  profession,  for  my  cures  and  for  my 
medicines,  I  enjoyed*  a  good  reputation  which  all  my 
efforts  were  directed  to  deserve. 

Of  course,  now  and  then,  I  met  people  in  Port- 
land, and  especially  in  Boston,  who  had  known  me 
in  former  years,  and  who  knew  something  of  my 
past  life ;  but  these  were  generally  my  friends  who 


192  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

sympathized  with  my  sufferings,  or  who,  at  least, 
were  willing  to  blot  out  the  past  in  my  better  behav- 
iour of  the  present.  One  daj  in  Boston  a  young 
man  came  up  to  me  and  said : 

"  How  do  you  do,  Doctor  ?" 

"  Quite  well,"  I  replied ;  "  but  you  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  me ;  I  am  sure  I  do  not  remember  you, 
if  I  ever  knew  you." 

"  You  don't  remember  me !  Why,  I  am  the  son 
of  the  jailer  in  Montpelier  with  whom  you  spent  so 
many  months  before  you  went  to  Windsor ;  I  knew 
you  in  a  minute,  and  Doctor,  I've  been  in  Boston  a 
week  and  have  got '  strapped ;'  how  to  get  back  to 
Montpelier  I  don't  know,  unless  you  will  lend  me 
five  or  six  dollars  which  I  will  send  back  to  you  the 
moment  I  get  home." 

"  I  remember  you  well,  now,"  said  I ;  "you  are  the 
little  rascal  who  wouldn't  even  go  and  buy  me  a 
cigar  unless  I  gave  you  a  dime  for  doing  it ;  and 
then,  sometimes,  you  cheated  me  out  of  my  money  ; 
I  wouldn't  lend  you  a  dollar  now  if  it  would  save 
you  from  six  month's  imprisonment  in  your  father's 
filthy  jail.     Good  morning." 

And  that  was  the  last  I  saw  of  him. 

I  was  getting  tired  of  Maine.     I  had  been  there 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  193 

longer  than  I  had  stayed  in  any  place,  except  in  the 
Vermont  State  prison,  for  the  past  fifteen  years,  and 
I  began  to  long  for  fresh  scenes  and  a  fresh  field  for 
practice.  I  had  accumulated  some  means,  and 
thought  I  might  take  life  a  little  easier — make  a 
home  for  myself  somewhere,  practicing  my  profes- 
sion when  I  wanted  to,  and  at  other  times  enjoying 
the  leisure  I  loved  and  really  needed.  So  I  closed 
up  my  business  in  Augusta  and  Portland,  put  my 
money  in  my  pocket,  and  once  more  went  out  into 
the  world  on  a  prospecting  tour.  My  first  idea  was 
to  go  to  the  far  West,  and  I  went  to  Troy  with  the 
intention  of  staying  there  a  few  days,  and  then  bid- 
ding farewell  to  the  East  forever.  The  New  Eng- 
land States  presented  no  attractions  to  me ;  I  had 
exhausted  Maine,  or  rather  it  had  exhausted  me ; 
New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Massachusetts  had 
too  many  unpleasant  associations,  if  indeed  they 
were  safe  states  for  me,  with  my  record  to  live  in, 
and  Connecticut  I  knew  very  little  about.  Certainly 
I  had  no  intention  of  trying  to  settle  in  New  Jersey 
or  Pennsylvania.  The  west  was  the  place  ;  any- 
where in  the  west. 

Here  was  I  in  Troy,  revolving  plans  in  my  own 
mind  for  migrating  to  the  west,  just  as  Mary  Gordon 


194  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

and  I  had  done  in  the  very  same  hotel,  only  a  few 
years  before  ;  and  in  the  course  of  a  week  I  came  to 
exactly  the  same  conclusion  that  Mary  and  I  did — 
not  to  go.  I  heard  of  a  small  farm — it  was  a  very 
small  one  of  only  twelve  acres — which  could  be 
bought  in  Rensselaer  County,  not  more  than  sixteen 
miles  from  Albany  and  Troy.  I  went  to  see  the 
place,  liked  it,  and  bought  it  for  sixteen  hundred 
dollars.  There  was  a  small  but  good  house  and  a 
barn  on  the  place,  and  altogether  it  was  a  cheap  and 
desirable  property.  I  got  a  good  housekeeper,  hired 
a  man,  and  began  to  carry  on  this  little  farm,  raising 
garden  vegetables  and  fruit  mainly,  and  sending 
them  to  market  in  Albany  and  Troy.  Generally  I 
took  my  own  stuff  to  market,  and  sold  medicines  and 
recipes  as  well,  and  in  Albany  I  had  a  first  rate  prac- 
tice which  I  went  to  that  city  to  attend  to  once  or 
twice  a  week.  While  my  man  was  selling  vegeta- 
bles and  fruit — I  remember  I  sold  a  hundred  dollars 
worth  of  cherries  from  my  farm  the  first  summer — 
in  the  market,  I  was  Doctor  Blank  receiving  my 
patients  at  Stanwix  Hall,  or  calling  upon  them  at 
their  residences  ;  and  when  the  day's  work  was  over, 
my  man  and  I  rode  home  in  the  wagon  which  had 
brought  us  and  the  garden  truck  early  in  the  morn- 


SEVEN    PRISONS.  195 

ing.  On  the  whole,  this  kind  of  life  was  exceeding- 
ly satisfactory,  and  I  liked  it. 

I  made  frequent  expeditions  to  Saratoga  and  to 
other  places  not  far  from  home  to  attend  to  cases  to 
which  I  was  called,  and  to  sell  medicines ;  and  con- 
sidering that  the  main  object  I  had  in  settling  in 
Rensselaer  County  was  rest  and  more  leisure  than  I 
had  enjoyed  for  some  years,  I  had  a  great  deal  more 
to  do  than  I  desired.  Nevertheless,  I  might  have 
continued  to  live  on  my  little  farm,  raising  vegeta- 
bles, picking  cherries,  and  practicing  medicine  in 
the  neighborhood,  had  not  the  fate,  which  seemed  to 
insist  that  I  should  every  little  while  come  before  a 
court  of  justice  for  something  or  other,  followed  me 
even  here.  A  certain  hardware  dealer  in  Albany, 
with  whom  I  had  become  acquainted,  proposed  to 
buy  one  of  my  recipes,  and  to  go  into  an  extensive 
manufacture  of  the  medicine.  He  had  read  and 
heard  of  the  fortunes  that  had  been  made  in  patent 
medicines,  by  those  who  understand  the  business, 
and  he  thought  he  would  see  if  he  could  not  get  rich 
in  a  year  or  less  in  the  same  way. 

After  some  solicitation  I  sold  him  the  recipe  for 
one  thousand  dollars,  receiving  six  hundred  dollars 
down,  and  a  promise  of  the  balance  when  the  first 


196  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

returns  from  sales  of  the  medicine  came  in.  I  also 
entered  into  a  contract  to  show  the  man  how  to 
make  the  medicine,  and  to  give  him  such  advice  and 
assistance  in  his  new  business  as  I  could.  My  hard- 
ware friend  understood  his  legitimate  business  better 
than  he  did  that  which  he  had  undertaken,  and 
although  he  learned  how  to  manufacture  the  medi- 
cine, he  did  not  know  how  to  sell  it ;  and  after  try- 
ing it  a  few  weeks  and  doing  next  to  nothing  he 
turned  upon  me  as  the  author  of  his  misfortunes  and 
sued  me  for  damages. 

Incidental  to  this,  and  only  incidental,  is  the  fol- 
lowing: Shortly  after  I  purchased  my  property,  as 
I  was  very  fond  of  calling  my  little  farm,  in  Rens- 
selaer County,  I  was  in  Albany  one  day  when  it  oc- 
curred to  me  that  I  wanted  a  carpet  for  my  parlor. 
I  went  to  the  store  of  a  well-known  carpet-dealer, 
and  asked  to  be  shown  some  of  his  goods.  While  I 
was  going  through  the  establishment  I  came  across 
a  man  who  was  industriously  sewing  together  the 
lengths  of  a  cut  carpet,  and  I  recognized  in  him  one 
of  my  fellow  convicts  at  Windsor.  He,  however,  did 
not  know  me,  and  I  doubt  if  he  could  have  been  con- 
vinced of  my  identity  as  the  wretch  who  plied  the 
broom  in  the  halls  of  the  prison.     To  him,  as  he 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  197 

glanced  at  me,  I  was  only  a  well-dressed  gentleman 
whom  the  proprietor  was  courteously  showing 
through  the  establishment  in  the  hope  of  securing 
a  good  customer.  It  was  this  little  circumstance,  I 
think — my  chance  meeting  with  my  old  fellow-pris- 
oner, and  my  changed  circumstances  and  appear- 
ance which  put  me  beyond  recognition  by  him — that 
prompted  me  to  the  somewhat  brazen  business  that 
followed : 

"  I  only  came  in  to  look  to-day,"  I  said  to  the  car- 
pet-dealer ;  "  for  the  precise  sum  of  money  in  my 
pocket  at  present  is  eighteen  pence,  and  no  more ; 
but  if  you  will  cut  me  off  forty  yards  of  that  piece 
of  carpeting,  and  trust  me  for  it,  I  will  pay  your  bill 
in  a  few  days,  as  sure  as  I  live." 

My  frank  statement  with  regard  to  my  finances 
seemed  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  merchant  who 
laughed  and  said  : 

"Well,  who  are  you,  anyhow  ?    Where  do  you  live  ?" 

I  told  him  that  I  was  Doctor  Blank  ;  that  I  lived 
in  Rensselaer  county  on  a  small  place  of  my  own  ;  I 
raised  fruit  and  vegetables  for  market ;  I  cured 
cancers,  dropsy,  and  other  diseases  when  I  could ; 
sold  medicines  readily  almost  where  I  would ;  and 
was  in  Albany  once  or  twice  a  week. 


108  SEV.SK    WIVES   AND 

"  Measure  and  cut  off  the  carpet,"  said  he  to  the 
clerk  who  was  following  us,  "  and  put  it  in  the  Doc- 
tor's wagon." 

The  bill  was  about  a  hundred  dollars,  and  I  drove 
home  with  the  carpet.  It  was  nearly  six  weeks  af- 
terwards when  I  went  into  the  store  again,  and 
greeted  the  proprietor.  He  had  seen  me  but  once 
before  and  had  totally  forgotten  me.  I  told  him 'I 
was  Doctor  Blank,  small  farmer  and  large  medical 
practitioner  of  Rensselaer  County. 

"  The  devil  you  are  !  Why,  you're  the  man  that 
bought  a  carpet  of  me  a  few  weeks  ago  ;  I  was  won- 
dering what  had  become  of  you." 

"  I'm  the  man,  and  I  must  tell  you  that  the  car- 
pet doesn't  look  well ;  but  never  mind — here's  a 
hundred  dollars,  and  I  want  you  to  receipt  the  bill." 

"  Now,"  said  I,  when  he  returned  the  bill  to  me 
receipted,  "  the  carpet  looks  firstrate  ;  I  never  saw  a 
handsomer  one  in  my  life." 

"  Well,  you  are  an  odd  chap,  any  how,"  said  the 
carpet- dealer,  laughing,  and  shaking  me  by  the  hand. 
Almost  from  that  moment  we  were  more  than  mere 
acquaintances,  we  were  fast  friends.  In  the  course 
of  the  long  conversation  that  followed,  I  told  him  of 
my  trouble  with  the  hardware  man — how  I  had  sold 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  199 

him  the  recipe ;  that  he  had  failed,  from  ignorance 
to  conduct  the  business  properly,  and  had  sued  me 
for  damages. 

"  I  know  the  man,"  said  my  new  friend  ;  "let  him 
go  ahead  and  sue  and  be — benefited,  if  he  can ; 
meanwhile,  do  you  keep  easy  ;  I'll  stand  by  you." 

And  stand  by  me  he  did  through  thick  and  thin. 
The  hardware  man  sued  me  no  less  than  nineteen 
times,  and  for  pretty  much  everything — damages, 
debt,  breach  of  contract,  and  what  not.  With  the 
assistance  of  a  lawyer  whom  my  friend  recommend- 
ed to  me,  I  beat  my  opponent  in  eighteen  succes- 
sive suits ;  but  as  fast  as  one  suit  was  decided  he 
brought  another,  almost  before  I  could  get  out  of 
the  court  room.  At  last  he  carried  the  case  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  from  there  it  went  to  a  referee. 
The  matter  from  beginning  to  end,  must  have  cost 
him  a  mint  of  money ;  but  he  went  on  regardless  of 
the  costs  which  he  hoped  and  expected  to  get  out  of 
me  at  last. 

My  long  and  painful  experience,  covering  many 
years,  had  given  me  a  pretty  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  law's  uncertainty,  as  well  as  the  law's  delay, 
and  very  early  in  the  course  of  the  present  suit,  1 
had  quietly  disposed  of  my  property  m  Rensselaer 
9 


200  SEVEN    WIVES    AND 

County.  I  sold  the  little  farm,  which  cost  me  six- 
teen hundred  dollars,  for  twenty-one  hundred  dollars, 
and  I  had  had,  besides,  the  profits  of  nearly  two 
years'  farming  and  a  good  living  from  and  on  the 
place.  I  also  arranged  all  my  money  matters  in  a 
manner  that  I  felt  assured  would  be  satisfactory  to 
me,  if  not  to  my  opponent,  and  then,  following  the 
advice  of  my  friend,  the  carpet-dealer,  I  let  the  hard- 
ware man  sue  and  be — "  benefited  if  he  could." 
When,  however,  the  case  went  finally  to  a  referee 
who  was  certain,  I  felt  sure,  to  decide  against  me,  I 
took  no  further  personal  interest  in  the  matter,  nor 
have  I  ever  troubled  myself  to  learn  the  final  decis- 
ion. I  made  up  my  mind  in  a  moment  and  decided 
that  the  time  had  come,  at  last,  when  it  was  advisa- 
ble for  me  to  go  to  the  West. 

Westward  I  went,  towards  sunset  almost,  and  for 
the  two  following  years  I  led,  I  fear,  what  would  be 
considered  a  very  vagabond  life.  I  went  to  Utah, 
thinking  while  I  was  in  Salt  Lake  City,  if  they  only 
knew  my  history  there  I  was  sure  to  be  elected  an 
apostle,  or  should  be,  at  any  rate,  a  shining  light  in 
Mormondom — only  I  had  taken  my  wives  in  regular 
succession,  and  had  not  assembled  the  throng  to- 
gether.    I  pushed  across  the  plains,  and  went  to 


■      SEVEN   PRISONS.  201 

California,  remaining  a  long  time  in  San  Francisco. 
This  may  have  been  vagabondism,  but  it  was  profit- 
able vagabondism  to  me.  During  this  long  wander- 
ing I  held  no  communication  with  my  friends  in  the 
East ;  friends  and  foes  alike  had  an  opportunity  to 
forget  me,  or  if  they  thought  of  me  they  did  not 
know  whether  1  was  dead  or  alive ;  they  certainly 
never  knew,  all  the  time,  where  I  was  ;  and  while 
I  was  journeying  I  never  once  met  a  man  or 
woman  who  had  been  acquainted  with  me  in  the 
past.  All  the  time,  too,  I  had  plenty  of  money ; 
indeed,  when  I  returned  at  last  I  was  richer  far 
than  I  was  when  I  left  Albany,  and  left  as  the 
common  saying  graphically  expresses  it,  "  between 
two  days."  I  had  my  old  resources  of  recipes,  med- 
icines and  my  profession,  and  these  I  used,  and  had 
plenty  of  opportunity  to  use,  to  the  best  advantage. 
I  could  have  settled  in  San  Francisco  for  life  with 
the  certainty  of  securing  a  handsome  annual  income. 
I  never  feared  coining  to  want.  If  I  had  lost  my 
money  and  all  other  resources  had  failed,  I  was  not 
afraid  to  make  a  horse-nail  or  turn  a  horse-shoe  with 
the  best  blacksmith  in  California,  and  I  could  have 
got  my  living,  as  I  did  for  many  a  year,  at  the  forge 
and  anvil. 


202  SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

But  I  made  more  money  in  other  and  easier  ways, 
and  I  made  friends.  In  every  conceivable  way  my 
two  years'  wandering  was  of  far  more  benefit  to  me 
than  I  dreamed  of  when  I  wildly  set  out  for  the  West 
without  knowing  exactly  where,  or  for  what,  I  was 
going.  The  new  country,  too,  had  given  me,  not 
only  a  fresh  fund  of  ideas,  but  a  new  stock  of  health 
— morally  and  physically  I  was  in  better  condition 
than  I  ever  was  before  in  my  life.  I  had  a  clear 
head ;  a  keen  sense  of  my  past  follies  ;  a  vivid  con- 
sciousness of  the  consequences  which  such  follies, 
crimes  they  may  be  called,  are  almost  certain  to 
bring.  I  flattered  myself  that  I  was  not  only  a  re- 
formed prisoner,  but  a  reformed  drunkard,  and  a 
thoroughly  restored  matrimonial  monomaniac. 

And  when  I  returned,  at  last,  to  the  East,  and 
went  once  more  to  visit  my  near  and  dear  friends  in 
Ontario  County,  I  was  received  as  one  who  had  come 
back  from  the  dead.  When  I  had  been  here  a  few 
weeks,  and  had  communicated  to  my  cousins  so 
much  of  the  story  of  my  life  as  I  then  thought  ad- 
visable, 1  took  good  counsel  and  finally  did  what  I 
ought  to  have  done  long  years  before.  I  commenced 
proper  legal  proceedings  for  a  divorce  from  my  first 
and  worst  wife.     I  do  not  need  to  dAvcll  upon  the 


SEVEN   PRISONS.  203 

particulars  ;  it  is  enough  to  say,  that  the  woman, 
who  was  then  living,  so  far  from  opposing  me,  aided 
me  all  she  could,  even  making  affidavit  to  her  adul- 
tery with  the  hotel  clerk  at  Bainbridge,  long  ago, 
and  I  easily  secured  my  full  and  complete  divorce. 
Now  I  was,  indeed,  a  free  man — all  the  other  wives 
whom  I  had  married,  or  who  had  married  me, 
whether  I  would  or  no,  were  as  nothing  ;  some  were 
dead  and  others  were  again  married.  It  may  be 
that  this  new,  and  to  me  strange  sense  of  freedom, 
legitimate  freedom,  set  me  to  thinking  that  I  might 
now  secure  a  genuine  and  true  wife,  who  would  make 
a  new  home  happy  to  me  as  long  as  we  both  should 
live. 

Fortune,  not  fate  now,  followed  me,  led  me  rather 
and  guided  my  footsteps.  It  was  not  many  months 
before  I  met  a  woman  who  seemed  to  me  in  every- 
way calculated  to  fill  the  first  place  in  that  home 
which  I  had  pictured  as  a  final  rest  after  all  my  woes 
and  wanderings.  From  mutual  esteem  our  acquaint- 
ance soon  ripened  into  mutual  love.  She  was  all 
that  my  heart  could  desire.  I  was  tolerably  well 
off ;  my  position  was  reputable ;  my  connections 
were  respectable.  To  us,  and  to  our  friends,  the 
match  seemed  a  most   desirable  one.     It  was  no 


204  ,     SEVEN   WIVES   AND 

hasty  courtship;  we  knew  each  other  for  months 
and  learned  to  know  each  other  well ;  and  with  true 
love  for  each  other,  we  had  for  each  other  a  genuine 
respect.  I  frankly  told  her  the  whole  story  of  my 
life  as  I  have  now  written  it.  She  only  pitied  my 
misfortunes,  pardoned  my  errors,  and,  one  bright, 
golden,  happy  autumn  day,  we  were  married. 

In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  on  the  banks  of  a  broad  and  beautiful  river, 
spread  out  far  and  near  the  fertile  acres  of  one  of 
the  finest  farms  in  the  country.  It  is  well  stocked 
and  well  tilled.  The  surrounding  country  is  charm- 
ing— game  in  the  woods,  and  fish  in  the  streams  af- 
ford abundant  sport,  and  the  region  is  far  away  from 
large  cities,  and  remote  even  from  railroads.  I  do 
not  know  of  a  more  delightful  place  in  the  whole 
world  to  live  in.  On  the  farm  I  speak  of,  a  cottage 
roof  covers  a  peaceful,  happy  family,  where  content 
and  comfort  always  seem  to  reign  supreme.  A  noble 
woman,  a  most  worthy  wife  is  mistress  of  that  house ; 
joyous  children  move  and  play  among  the  trees  that 
shade  the  lawns ;  and  the  head  of  the  household, 
the  father  of  the  family,  is  the  happiest  of  the 
group. 

That  farm,  that  family,  that  cottage,  that  wife, 


BEVEN  PBISONS.'  205 

that  happy  home  are  mine — all  mine.     I  have  found 
a  true  wife  and  a  real  home  at  last. 

My  story  is  told ;  and  if  it  should  suggest  to  the 
reader  the  moral  which  is  too  obvious  to  need  re- 
hearsal, one  object  I  had  in  telling  the  story  will 
have  been  accomplished. 


THE  END. 


an  5 


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